


In The Darkest Night: Dark Beginnings

by Kudara



Series: In The Darkest Night [2]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Dom/sub, Drama, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Science Fiction, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2017-12-28 10:09:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 53,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/990783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kudara/pseuds/Kudara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Universe in which the Protheans won a Phyrric victory over the Reapers, destroying both their Empire and nearly destroying the Mass Relay system.  Mass Effect Universe with no Reapers, no Citadel, and no Citadel Council or Citadel race alliance.  </p><p>Many thanks to PMC65 for letting me use the Asari culture and characters from her “Thessian Whisper” and “The Shepardess and the Questing Beast” in this story.  The timeline is in both Earth time in Anno Domini (AD) years and in Asari Republics Republic Era (RE) years which is marked from the beginning of the League of Republics upon Thessia, the first unified Thessian government.  The story begins in 4714 RE/2190 AD.</p><p>This planned series has been turned into a short story upon further reflection upon the planed storyline; it now serves as the inspiration for Forging An Empire and shares characters, some basic storyline elements, and conceptual ideas.  I will wrap this up to a decent stopping point for both 29045/Elosia and Tela Vasir before completing it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Slave Under The Master's Boot

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: Violence
> 
> Race Notes: Accurate weights and heights will be used as per the game information and not the visual depiction in the game. Thus the Krogan are well over 7 foot tall, Turians and Hanar are next at just over 6.5’, Asari range from 6.5’ to 6’ as that is how PMC65 described them in her stories, Salarians, Batarians, Quarians and Humans average at just under 6’ in height while Volus and Vorcha are among the shortest races at 5 feet and under.

Slave 28907’s rifle rose, the barrel’s sight centering upon the forehead of the tall, blue-skinned alien female.  Her finger tightened on the trigger before the blue-white energy wreathing the asari’s form could either be unleashed against her or used to protect the alien from her shot. In the next instant the tentacled head jerked back, an ugly hole blossoming in the slightly-scaled blue skin of the forehead while the metal wall behind the alien was splattered with whitish bits of bone, brain and purplish colored blood. The young asari huddled in the corner behind the adult began screaming in mingled horror and fear as she was splattered with her protector’s blood. In the next moment, punctuated by an even louder cry from the asari youth, the body collapsed onto cream colored tiles; that which had animated it in life slipping away into whatever awaited it once life ended.

Blank grey eyes focused upon the still form of the asari’s body, and then stared into the now empty blue eyes. The Masters said that animals weren’t fit to go to the same place they did after death. Masters went to a place where they had grand homes and food while animals went to an empty place until they were reborn as slaves to the Masters. Many of the asari had been sent to the empty place along with many of her fellow slaves, perhaps it would be some time before they were reborn to serve.

Sudden motion tore 28907 abruptly from her morbid thoughts.  Refocusing her attention upon her surroundings, the slave jerked her weapon back up as she went on guard.   The younger asari that had been huddled in the corner was now latched onto the dead body of the adult asari.  To the slave’s unfamiliar eye, judging by her own race’s standard, the younger asari appeared to still be a child, but one just beginning to grow into an adult. The young asari’s earlier screams changed into deep sobbing cries as she began repeating a word over and over in her alien tongue and wasting water from her eyes. The slave soldier hesitated for a moment, an emotion that almost looked like regret flickering briefly in her pale eyes as she observed the scene before her.

In the next moment the guttural, harsh voice of one of the Masters snarled over the speakers embedded in the slave’s helmet and the brief flash of emotion was buried once again as blankness filled her grey eyes and stilled her features. “Drag those still living into the open areas between the buildings. Kill any that resist you. It’s time these animals were properly collared and taught to serve their masters.”

Over two decades as a batarian slave had taught 28907 well what happened to those that failed to promptly follow a Master’s command…and it was never pleasant for the slave. As for outright disobedience - the Masters took great pleasure in prolonging a rebellious slave’s punishment before allowing them to finally die. That thought had the slave immediately moving to obey the command. Striding swiftly toward the young asari still clinging and crying over the body of the adult, she grabbed a handful of the warm looking green dress covering the child’s back and forcefully tore the alien youth away from the dead body.

To her surprise the child twisted, the slender body turning and sliding out of the thick but fine material and leaving the slave with the empty piece of clothing as the young asari darted back toward the body lying on the tile floor. The slave soldier’s grey eyes narrowed and the barrel of her weapon rose and pointed toward the naked back of the kneeling child as she considered whether to kill the child now and send her to the empty place along with the adult or take her to the Masters to be taught to serve them. Memories rose within the slave’s mind of the heavy boots of the Masters stamping and stamping and stamping.  The thin, high-pitched screams that rose shrieking and then grew thin and faded before being drown out by the Masters laughter.   Heavy gauntleted hands that stuck and split her skin, leaving the scars that marred her face across her lips and cheeks.  The screams she couldn’t stop herself from making when the Masters activated the pain giving device they had put in her head.  The slave’s finger tightened on the trigger while the young asari, unaware of how close death hovered near her, continued making distressed noises and weeping over the dead body.

Seconds passed as the slave stared unblinkingly at the asari child while one brutal memory after another played out within her mind. _‘The Masters are waiting,’_ the sharp, warning thought within her mind broke 28907 out of her dark reverie. Drawing in a sharp breath as her features hardened the slave moved forward once again, drew back her hand and struck the child sharply across the back of her crested head. The blow sent the child sprawling forward across the dead body as the young asari’s cries shifted from grieving to shocked and pained at the sudden attack. Not giving the child time to recover the slave moved forward again this time wrapping her hand around the youngster’s neck and physically lifting the young alien until the child attempted to stand on her own. As soon as the slave soldier released the youngster, the young asari whirled around, an expression of mingled fear and anger at the harsh handling upon her face, only to be met with the force of a gauntleted hand. The young asari stumbled backward with a pain filled shriek her blue hued hands going to her face. Shocked blue eyes stared up fearfully at the slave for a moment before the child began rapidly speaking in a high, fear-filled tone.

 _‘Animals do not speak, only the Masters speak.’_ Without conscious thought guiding it, the slave’s gauntleted hand struck the child across the face once again, the second blow splitting the young asari’s lip and sending the youth sprawling upon the tiled floor from its force. Frightened vivid blue eyes met impassive grey ones for a moment through the clear faceplate of the slave’s helmet and then the child was scrambling wildly away in an effort to escape. 28907’s weapon rose once again and the young asari froze as she stared at the muzzle pointed at her chest. Jaw clenched hard enough that her teeth ground together the slave considered the child lying on the floor with narrowed eyes. The Master’s orders had been clear, kill any that resisted. Her finger curled, bringing it into contact with the trigger of her rifle. Frozen with fear the young asari remained still and blessedly silent as she stared up at the alien soldier, a trail of purple blood flowing down her chin and onto her neck and chest from her split lip.

After what seemed like forever but was in reality only a few seconds, the slave eased her finger away from the trigger of her rifle and instead threw the dress she was still holding in her other hand at the child. Silently she gestured for the child to put it on. 28907 knew that the young asari’s behavior would draw the Master’s attention to her soon enough and that she might not survive their punishments. Bringing the youth to them almost naked would immediately make the Master’s notice her; depending on the Master that noticed bad things might happen to the young asari with skin the color of a midday sky…very bad and hurtful things. It was never good to draw a Master’s notice in that manner. Better that the child be delivered to the Masters covered, learning how to behave as the Masters wanted in the next few days would be difficult enough without learning what else the Masters liked from their female slaves and from some of the male slaves.

28907 watched as the young asari glanced down at the green dress which had landed upon her chest.  The asari's breasts were just beginning to swell in a sign of beginning adulthood, indicating that the slave had been right in her approximation of the alien youth's age. The blue-skinned child looked back up and her mouth opened as if she were about to speak once again. The slave soldier lunged forward, thrusting the muzzle of her weapon close to the child’s face, causing the young asari to make a sharp, thin sound of fear as she jerked away from it.  28907 held her threatening stance for a moment longer before backing away to her former position. Once there she gestured sharply for the child to dress.  Too much time had passed; soon one of the Masters would come looking for her.  Then both of them would be punished or perhaps even killed; her for her disobedience, the young asari for resisting. Finally the child seemed to understand that she should not speak and should instead put on her dress in silence. As the youth pulled her dress on over her crested head, the slave allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Perhaps this one would live through the Masters training. Perhaps.

Once the young asari was dressed, 28907 motioned with her rifle, indicating that the youngster should stand. Her blue eyes fixed upon the slave soldier with wary fear the entire time and holding one hand to her mouth to staunch the bleeding, the child rose as ordered. The slave was surprised at the youngster’s height, even though the asari was not full grown the youngster was already nearly as tall as she, though much slimmer in build than 28907.  The slave’s grey eyes dropped momentarily to the body of the adult, perhaps she shouldn’t be surprised given the fact that the Asari as a race were tall…taller even than most of the Masters.  28907’s skin pricked as a chill of fear washed over her at her thought as if one of the Masters might reach into her mind and see it – the Asari were animals just as she, tallness did not matter.

The young asari flinched and stepped back as 28907 approached her, but the slave ignored the reaction as she reached around to seize a handful green dress at the child’s back. This time the asari youth did not attempt to escape the slave soldier’s grip as 28907 pushed her into movement, doubtless sensing that any further resistance would result in her death. Though the child did not resist, she did slow and turn her head to stare back at the body of the adult asari, water running down her cheeks from her eyes.  The Masters would beat her if they saw it, but 28907 ignored it as she pushed the youth in front of her through the doorway of the room and the dead body was no longer visible.

The metal building they were in looked somewhat similar to a lower caste Master home, though with more curving lines than those buildings made by the Masters.  The building was not as big as most those Masters lived in, but it was still not a place for animals unless they were ordered there by the Masters to serve them. This was where the asari miners and their families had been living; which made the Masters angry because the Asari were not superior like the Masters, not even the lower caste Masters.  The Asari were just animals like 28907 and were not supposed to live in buildings like these. Animals, if they were obedient and served the Masters well, were allowed to live in slave buildings where they ate, bathed and rested with the other slaves under the watch of the Masters who were slave overseers.  Animals, if they were not obedient and the Masters didn’t chose to kill them, were often punished by being put outside in wire cages where they barely had room to move around and the overseer Masters sprayed them with cold water when they began to stink.

The slave and young asari emerged from the building to stand upon a concrete path that joined with a wider walkway which ran between one row of metal buildings and the next. The entire area was lit by bright lights suspended from the cavern roof many meters above them.  28907 had heard the Masters call this planet Zesmeni and the asari here lived and worked in sealed caverns such as this below the surface of the planet because one could not breathe its methane-ammonia atmosphere.  Other than its name however, the slave knew very little about the cold, dimly-lit planet besides the fact that it had many mineral and metal deposits. That was why they were here, the Masters desired this planet for the Hegemony and they were taking it by force from the Asari animals that lived upon it now. The asari that survived the attack would be collared and taught to know their proper place – to serve the Masters. Then they would be put back to work in the same mines they were working in now, only they would be mining metals and minerals for the Masters.

“Slave,” a commanding voice growled from the slave soldier’s left a few seconds after they stepped outside.

28907 recognized the voice immediately.  It belonged to one of the overseer Master’s, one the slave feared for how hard he hit for even the slightest failure.  Several of the scars upon 28907's face had come from his gauntleted hands.   Anxious to not offend, the slave soldier immediately tightened her hold upon the young asari’s dress and using her weight and strength pushed the slender form down to her hands and knees upon the pavement.  The child’s bare hands slammed down on the pavement, only just stopping her face from meeting the rough surface as well.  The young alien cried out in fear and pain, but a quick open handed cuff alongside the tentacled head persuaded her to be silent after one additional pained yelp.  28907 waited only a bare second longer to ensure the child remained silent before literally dropping to her knees, ignoring the momentary flash of pain that ran up her shins at the impact, and bowed her head as she awaited the Master's command.

The sound of armored footsteps grew louder as the tall, thick, brown-skinned batarian male in heavy black and brown armor approached and then stopped in front of the kneeling slave soldier and asari child.  Slave 28907 remained still, her head bowed and already tilted to the left in a show of submission and acknowledgement of the Master’s superiority.  The long healed scar on her cheek which ran along her right cheekbone just below her eye had been from one of the fitting buckles on the back of the Master’s armored gauntlet after he felt that she had not properly displayed her respect for him when she was much younger…in fact almost the same relative age as the young asari kneeling next to her.

“So few,” the Master sounded displeased, sending a chill of absolute fear through 28907.  Her instructions had been clear, kill all those that resisted and yet the Master was not pleased.  The slave cowered, bowing her head further and lowering herself closer to the ground as her apprehension of punishment grew.  “You killed only the ones that resisted their subjugation?” the Master’s voice demanded a response to his question.

Slave 28907 made an affirmative barking sound, its nervous underlying tone betraying her sharp anxiety, and put as much earnestness into the noise as possible.  Animals were not allowed to speak, but they were allowed to make a few sounds when the Masters asked questions as long as they remembered the rule – animals never disagreed with the Masters.  One either made an affirmative sound or remained silent.  Any noise resembling dissent or disagreement with a Master brought swift and brutal punishment, punishment which usually ended with the offending slave’s eventual death.

“Hmm,” the Master rumbled, still sounding displeased.  Slave 28907 remained as still and quiet as possible, barely even breathing as she silently hoped that the overseer Master would not take out his displeasure at the lack of living asari upon her.  The slave did not pray as she had no concept of there being anything out there that would listen to her, certainly the Masters rarely listened to any pleading sounds made by the slaves.  If anything, such noises usually made them angrier and more violent rather than less.

Dark brown armor clad feet shifted as the Master turned his attention toward the asari by the slave soldier’s side.  “Young,” he observed, sounding disgusted, “it will take decades before this animal is able to do any decent amount of work in the mines.  After a brief pause he added condescendingly, “At least once its collared and trained to know its proper place as a slave it will serve the Hegemony for several centuries.”

28907 was confused by the Master’s behavior, though the lessening of anger in his tone at least gave her hope that she wasn’t about to be punished.  Master’s didn’t usually talk to the slaves except to give them orders or ask specific questions, but the overseer Master had done neither so she remained still and silent rather than risk angering him.  Out of the corner of her eye the slave soldier saw the asari youth look up and then open her dark blue lips.  28907's grey eyes widened in dismay as she watched the child made the mistake of speaking to the Master.

"Animals do not speak!" the overseer Master growled at the young asari before she even got out her first word and then struck the child across the side of her head with enough force that the blue-skinned youngster was knocked sideways into the slave soldier.

Kneeling as she was upon her knees with one hand gripping the asari's dress and the other holding her assault rifle the slave soldier wasn't prepared for the impact of the youngster against her.  Thrown off balance, she used the butt of her rifle against the ground to brace herself while tightening her grip upon the young asari’s clothing to make sure the alien didn’t attempt to rise and escape.  Despite the Master’s desire for living asari, such an act would surely cause the Master to decide to kill the blue-skinned youngster. 

Instead of attempting to escape however, the young asari flung her arms up around her head and shouted a word at the Master.  Dread rose inside 28907 and she had to resist an impulse to push the young alien away from her.  She did not want to share the other animal’s punishment.  Such an act however, would draw the angry overseer Master’s attention to her and for now he seemed solely focused on the young asari.  She would remain still and hope that the Master saw her obedience and did not take out his anger upon her.  In response to the show of disobedience the Master clenched his hand and slammed down his armored fist upon the young asari’s head, causing the youngster to cry out in pain as she collapsed upon the hard surface of the walkway with her arms still wrapped around her head.

The Master bent down and seized the asari child by the neck with one large hand dragging her upward as she thrashed against his grip.  The overseer Master drew back his hand once more and then stopped before striking the alien youngster, an unpleasant smile twisting his lips.  “I’ll have a better way of punishing you in a moment,” he commented as he lifted the blue-skinned child closer before declaring in a menacing tone, “In fact, I’ll put it in myself.”  He released the young asari, letting her collapse upon the ground.  Turning his attention to 28907 he directed, “Bring this animal to the gathering point,” he stared down at the young asari for a moment longer, a sneer curling his lips and showing off his pointed teeth before turning and setting off toward the gathering point himself.

28907 remained still and kneeling until the overseer Master was a distance away before risking a glance over at the asari youth.  The alien was lying curled up on the ground, her arms still wrapped around her head.  Deep sobs shook the young asari’s slender body.  The slave soldier’s grey eyes flickered briefly back toward the Master, verifying that he was still walking away from them before she dared straighten and turn her full attention to the asari. 

She knew full well what was about to happen to the young alien, the overseer Master would take a knife and cut into the young asari’s scalp down to the bone.  Then he would attach the device that created pain which would then cut through the bone and into the asari’s brain.  Finally they would use a glue to seal the skin back over the device and stop the bleeding.  The entire process would hurt terribly and then overseer Master had already promised to use the pain giving device to punish the alien child.  The slave stared down at the youngster, her lips curved downward as the thought crossed her mind that she should have killed the child earlier, now though the Master wanted this one to remain alive and 28907 would not disobey him.

Rising to her feet, the slave contemplated how to get the asari child to move as the other animal showed no sign of getting up from where she was curled up on the ground.  Out of the corner of her eye something moved, 28907 whipped her head around, tensing in anticipation of either finding cover or kneeling if there was another Master approaching.  She let out her breath and relaxed as soon as she recognized the distinctive grayish-brown armor of another slave soldier, 28934 a slightly taller male.

There were more male animals than females in her slave unit and that was true for all the other slave units she had seen as well.  Why she didn’t know for certain, but she suspected it was because male animals were stronger than female animals and did not tire as quickly when wearing armor and weapons.  However, male animals seemed be punished more than female animals by the Masters who seemed to be more watchful for any sign of disobedience from them.  Some of the male animals and a few of her fellow female animals had eyes that were as hard as any Master’s when they looked at you.  Often those that had hard eyes were almost as likely to hit their fellow slaves for anything they became angry over as the Masters.  28907 tried to stay away from those slaves that had hard eyes.  It was difficult enough to not anger the Masters; she didn’t like having to be as careful around the other slave soldiers. 

Slave 28934 did not have hard eyes, his eyes were a slightly darker brown than her own and often seemed to warm whenever he saw her.  28907 liked being around the other male animal, she liked the slight smile that curved his lips when he saw her and there wasn’t a Master near them.  She liked the broadness of his shoulders and the muscles which bunched underneath his dark skin.

28934 made a questioning sound as he drew near, looking curiously toward the asari child upon the ground.

In response, 28907 pointed toward the child and then toward the designated gathering point as she barked once in a firm tone.  The tone she had used was one the slaves used with one another when they were obeying a Master’s orders.  This was as complex a communication as the Master’s would allow between the slaves, anything more creative would draw their attention and their anger.  The overseer Masters always closely watched the slaves and punished those they felt were trying to behave as if they were Masters and not animals.

28934’s brown eyes widened in surprise, but he voiced only a quiet acknowledging bark as he stopped beside her. 

The two of them stared down at the asari youth whose sobs had quieted somewhat even though she was still wasting water.  28907 frowned; the punishment that the Master had given the child had been mild compared to what would happen to the young asari in the near future.  All of this – this lying down on the ground, the sobbing and wasting of water – would only make the Master’s angrier with the child and they would punish her even more for it.  The female slave soldier had a bad feeling that the Master’s might make this young asari their example to the other new slaves if the child kept up her rebellious behavior.

28934 made a motion with his hand and arm toward the child, mimicking an action of picking up the asari by lifting her by her arms.  The grey-eyed female slave nodded after a moment, it did seem the best way of getting the child to the designated gathering site since she showed no sign of getting up on her own.  Certainly the overseer Master’s anger would not be lessened by waiting; instead he was certain to become angrier with the young asari.

28907 took a few steps so that she was on the other side of the child from the brown eyed male, then the two of them knelt and grabbed the young asari’s arms so that they could lift her to her feet between them.  As soon as the child realized what they were doing she began to struggle between them and even worse…shouting something at them…speaking.  The two slave soldiers looked at one another, their expressions mirroring each other’s fear.  This asari animal would be killed by the Master’s for her rebelliousness and disobedience and since they were the one’s bringing her to the Masters’ they were likely to be punished as well.

Almost as one, their gazes shifted back to the young asari between them as the two slave soldiers considered how to get the child to stop speaking, stop struggling, and stop crying before they took her to the Masters.  Just as 28934 turned his head, the two slaves heard the distinctive sound of sniper round propelled at supersonic speeds.  The male slave soldier’s entire body snapped back as his faceplate and part of his standard slave issue helmet shattered from the force of the round, the sharp shards slicing into his face.  Only the fact that his head had been turning when the sniper round struck saved the slave soldiers life; it should have been both his helmet and skull that shattered and not just his helmet.

28907 uttered a short, shocked sound as she took one step toward her fellow slave soldier, her grey eyes fearful at the sight of his blood, before her combat training snapped her out of her surprise at the unexpected attack.  Stepping forward she wrapped one arm around the young asari and forcibly dragged the child with her as she retreated back to the same building from which she had earlier taken the young blue-skinned alien.  It was the nearest source of cover and judging from the way the sniper round had struck 28934 the attacking asari were on a rooftop, or either in or on the ventilation ducts suspended from the cavern ceiling far above them.  One thing the slave soldier was certain of after being in several battles with Asari forces, where there was one asari sniper there were always more asari snipers.  Focusing on the one firing at you usually left you in the line of sight of another, which was why she was taking cover inside the building instead of outside the building despite the fact that her visibility would be severely reduced.

As soon as 28907 stepped through the door, she released the young asari and shoved the child further into the room. Whirling, she returned to the doorway and looked out just in time to witness 28934, who had managed to follow them despite the wounds to his face, being shot a second time in the shoulder.  The dark skinned slave soldier’s body twisted around from the shot and he fell to his knees and one hand, dropping his assault rifle.  28907 didn’t hesitate, darting back out of the building she stopped by the other slave’s good side and hauled him upward to his feet.  As soon as he was standing, she shifted her position so that his arm was slung across her shoulders and then helped him toward the building.  28907’s kinetic shields flickered several times and then depleted with a snapping noise just before they reached the door, indicating that they had just stopped several weapon rounds from hitting the female slave soldier’s armor.  In the next moment the two slaves slipped through the doorway of the building and into the shelter of its walls.

Knowing by the way that 28934 was slumping against her and making her have to support an increasing amount of his weight that he was severely injured, 28907 dragged her fellow slave toward the nearest inside wall.  Once there she pushed him up against the wall and used it as a support to lower him to the floor.  The first thing the female slave soldier noticed as she eased out from under his arm was that he was losing a lot of blood from his wounded shoulder.  A steady stream of bright red flowed freely from the injury and down his armor.  The amount of blood loss along with his glassy looking eyes and ashen skin was enough to tell her that he would likely die from his wound unless she could soon stop the bleeding.  A sharp pain seemed to slice into 28907’s chest at the realization and without conscious thought she gave voice to her pain, making a wordless keening sound of distress as she pressed her hands against the wound.  She glanced anxiously over at the male slave’s face and was disappointed to see that his eyes were closed.  He looked as if he were unconscious.

Out of the corner of her eye, the slave soldier noticed that the asari child was still nearby though the alien had moved into the hallway which lead to the room where she had earlier killed the adult asari.  Glancing over she met the resentment-filled blue eyes of the youngster for a brief moment before the young asari's gaze shifted to the wounded male slave and the red blood flowing down his armor.  The female slave soldier returned her attention to the male, besides the wound in his shoulder; he was also bleeding from several deep lacerations on his face.  Thankfully none of the shards from his helmet had struck his eyes, even though one had come close, slicing into his cheek beneath his right eye.

28907 knew that she should leave 28934 and focus her attention on the asari animals who were opposing the Masters.  If a Master were present they would punish her for trying to stop male slave soldier's bleeding instead of fighting against the attacking asari.  She did not leave the male slave soldier however, there was no Master here, no Master to see what she was doing and order her to leave the other slave with his warm brown eyes to bleed and die.  As the sounds of the battle continued outside, 28907 continued pressing her hand hard against gaping wound in the male slave's shoulder, finally managing to slow the bleeding. 

28934 lifted his uninsured arm and shakily placed his hand over hers where they were pressed against his wound.  The female slave soldier turned her head slightly so that she could see his face.  His brown eyes were open once again and showed more awareness than they had earlier.  A tentative smile curved her lips and then she looked back at the wound.  Despite him being more responsive, it was still a bad injury and if she wasn't pressing on it as she was she knew it would start bleeding again.   Her smile, slight as it had been, vanished, as a cold, sick feeling grew in her chest.  The Masters killed slaves who were badly wounded, in the past she had watched the Masters kill slaves who had been less wounded than 28934.  The male slave soldier's brown eyes shifted away from her gaze, looking off to her left, toward the doorway and then widened with alarm.

Before 28907 could react a female sounding voice shouted in Batarian, "Do not move, do not reach for your weapons or you will be killed." 

The female slave soldier froze her grey eyes meeting the brown ones of the male as her thoughts raced.  The asari soldiers would kill them if she moved, she did not doubt that, but if she did not resist then the Masters would kill them once they dealt with the asari animal's attack.  She heard the asari speak with one another in their own language for a few seconds while she glanced over at her hands still pressing against 28934's wounded shoulder.

"Continue cooperating and we will call in a medic to tend to your male friend," a different asari spoke this time, one with a slightly lower toned voice than the first.

The offer confused 28907, the asari had shot him, they were the enemy, why offer to help them?  She did not know what to do, and was only certain of one thing...either the asari would kill them if she attempted to resist now or the Masters would kill them later for not resisting.  There seemed to be no way for she and 28934 to escape death.

The asari began speaking in their own language again only this time Slave 28907 heard the young asari respond to them. Curious as to how many asari soldiers were present, the slave soldier risked a quick glance over her shoulder toward where she could hear their voices. There were three tall asari soldiers dressed in their distinctive brown layered armor and backswept black helmets. She only studied them for a few seconds before turning back to the male slave, long enough to tell that two of the asari had almost the same color of blue skin while the third asari had slightly darker blue skin. Her action hadn’t gone unnoticed; all three of the asari had been looking directly at her. Only two of them had their weapons pointed at her. The third asari, one of the two lighter skinned ones, had a mask-like dark blue coloring around her eyes as well as black markings above them which looked strangely like her own species eyebrows. That asari had an omni-tool opened upon her wrist and appeared to be scanning the two slaves. The asari didn’t do anything in response besides stare back at her, but it was enough to let 28907 know that there was no chance of surprising them.

28907 focused her attention on the male slave once again, leaning forward slightly as she took a look at his wound.  Blood still seeped out from around her hands where they pressed against the wounded flesh, but it was a slow bleed and not a quick one.  It was also obvious to the female slave that if she stopped pressing her hands against the wound that the male slave would quickly bleed out, to attack the asari she would have to let him die.  She looked back to his face, met his brown eyes, eyes that were focused upon her with the warm expression she had seen in them before, the one that caused strange feelings in her.  She did not want to let him die to attack the asari, unfortunately that still left the Masters and their anger at them for not attacking and their punishment would be worse than letting him die from his wound.  28907 frowned, her thoughts chasing each other around at a frenetic pace, before she could decide upon an action however; the choice was taken out of her hands.

Behind her the asari began speaking in agitated tones and then a moment later the slave collars around her and 28934's necks started making a beeping noise.  Such a simple sound but for the two slaves it meant death.  Slave collars acted as deterrents to any escape attempts, not only because they were location transmitters, but also because they contained enough explosives to kill the slave when they detonated.  The beeping sound meant that the Masters had just activated the explosives in the collars.

Grey eyes met brown and 28907 let out a sad, resigned noise as she saw the acceptance of what was about to happen in his eyes.  They were slaves of the Masters and sooner or later the Masters always killed them, the only question was when and how.  The asari behind them were making agitated sounds and she saw one of them go to the young asari and pull her further down the hallway and out of sight.  She ignored them however as she removed her hands from the male slaves wound, it did not matter now if he bled.  Her gaze lowered to her armored hands which were covered with his blood.

She clenched them and then focused upon his face again...he was wasting water from his eyes…. The female slave raised one hand and laid her fingertips gently against the dark brown skin of his face, avoiding the lacerations caused by the shattering of his helmet.  Water rose within her own eyes but did not fall.  Maybe things could be different in the empty place where there were no Masters. Maybe they would be together there, her and the male slave. Maybe they would not be born again for a long time.

The sound from their collars became one shrill continuous noise....


	2. A Huntress in the Defense of Zesmeni

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: This is primarily a history chapter to explain the setting of the story.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 10/19/2013; 11/5/2013

The detonation of the slaves’ collars was powerful enough to shake the pre-fabricated home and reverberate through its structure. The Batarians put enough explosive material into the collars of their newest species of slave soldiers to almost completely incinerate their bodies. It was an attempt on their part to prevent either the Asari or Salarians from studying their corpses. Unfortunately for the Hegemony’s efforts at security through obscurity however, both races had already studied several living specimens of the new species.

While the Asari Republics and the Salarian Union were not the closest of allies, both governments recognized they needed to cooperate with one another against the Batarian Hegemony as neither wanted to see the Hegemony grow into any more of a threat than they were currently. One of the most notable areas of cooperation between the two governments was the carrying out of joint intelligence operations against the Hegemony. Both Asari Republic Commandoes and Salarian Union’s Special Tactics Group Operatives were highly skilled infiltrators; while the Asari Commandoes had a definite combat edge gained by centuries of experience, the STG were undeniably more technically oriented and skilled. Combine the two forces into one team and even the Hegemony’s best attempts to prevent infiltration and intelligence gathering by its enemies faltered and failed. Several joint intelligence operation teams had been able to get close enough to Batarian positions to not only make direct observations of the new slave race’s interaction with their Batarian masters, but also take medical scans of the species without being detected by the slaves, the Hegemony troops, or the excess of surveillance equipment deployed by the Batarians to prevent just such infiltration attempts.

What the joint intelligence operations teams had discovered was enlightening. The Batarian Hegemony called the new race ‘Humans,’ which was presumably the species’ name for themselves. The Humans were a sapient mammalian race with two genders which appeared remarkably physically similar to the Asari. There were distinct differences of course between the two races, both major and minor. The two most obvious physical differences were in skin color and the presence of hair. Humans ranged in skin color from pale cream to dark brown instead of varying shades of blue, and the race was hirsute, or covered with hair instead of smooth-skinned like either the Asari or Salarians. The amount of hair ranged in coverage from barely noticeable to distinctly present such as upon their arms and legs. The presence of hair follicles upon their heads and areas of the male’s faces indicated that they would naturally grow thick hair there as well if not for the fact that the Batarians shaved the hair of their slave soldiers in those locations for better fitting of their armor helmets.

Both governments suspected that the Humans had been relatively primitive when their home world had been found by the Hegemony. It would not have taken the Batarians long to conquer a pre-FTL (faster than light) capable civilization and enslave the entire species. As for when, the information they found suggested that the Hegemony had discovered the humans no more than a century ago and prior to 4704 RE which was the year the Batarians launched their second attack upon the Asari colony world of Esan. The Batarians had previously attempted to conquer Esan in 4513 RE but had failed in that attack. This time the Hegemony led their attack with vorcha and slave troops of a then unknown race, using both as disposable shock troops to overrun and wear down the local Defense Forces before finally sending in Batarian troops to wipe out the weakened Asari defenders and claim the planet for the Hegemony. That battle had been the first time the Humans had been encountered by either the Asari or the Salarians.

The revelation of a new sapient race, especially a race enslaved by the Batarians opened up a tantalizing possibility for the Republics. If the Humans were as psychologically similar to the Asari as they were physically similar, then they would view any race that liberated them from the Hegemony as welcome saviors. The Republics could possibly gain another ally that might prove to be as trustworthy as the Elcor’s Courts of Dekkuna. First however, they needed to discover the location of the Human’s home world, something they had not yet discovered during their joint intelligence gathering efforts with the Salarian Union. The Hegemony was making an unusual effort to keep as much information as possible about this race secret, and that in and of itself was intriguing to High Command and the Matriarchs since it indicated that the Batarians feared their enemies finding the home world of this new race.

The need to gather more information about these Humans, preferably before the Salarian STG found out and made the attempt themselves, led Asari High Command to issue a directive to its commanders: If the opportunity arose to gather information leading to the discovery of disabling the Batarian’s slave collars without compromising the safety of Asari civilians or significantly compromising the safety of their forces, then they were to make every effort to gain such information. Once the collars could be disarmed, Asari forces were to capture one or more of the Humans for questioning. This was where the Asari would have an advantage over the Salarians. They knew that the Batarians did not permit their slaves to speak and were uncertain if the Human slaves knew how to speak. The Asari didn’t need to rely on the Humans telling them what they knew however, they could get the information directly from the Humans minds by melding with them.

That recently issued directive was the reason why the commander of the Asari Republics Fourth Rapid Reaction Force, upon observing two Human slaves with a captive asari child temporarily separated from the main Batarian unit, had directed Lt. Larisa Kurin to take two of her huntresses to rescue the child and if possible obtain the desired data for High Command.

The small strike group’s initial plan had been guided by the need to ensure the safety of the asari child, thus they had decided to time their attack in conjunction with their unit’s attack upon the Batarian’s main force. Huntress Aeian T’Goni would kill the male Human slave from her sniper position on a nearby rooftop and then Lt. Kurin and Huntress Liara T’Soni would disable and capture the female slave. The three asari had not anticipated that the female slave would choose to pull the asari child toward the safety of a nearby home instead of engaging them. Then they had assumed the slave would use the child as a hostage, instead she had returned for the male slave and helped him into the building as well. Certainly when they had entered the home they hadn’t expected to find the female slave staunching the bleeding shoulder of the male slave and the asari child watching the two humans from the hallway instead of being held captive.

Before this male and female, any Human slaves the Asari forces had come in contact with had always attacked them no matter the hopelessness of their situation. These two slaves seemed different however, giving every indication of valuing the life of one another other over mindlessly attacking. While nothing had gone as they expected when the three asari had planned out their attack, the unique situation they found inside the home gave Lt. Kurin’s team the perfect opportunity to get the information High Command desired from the two slaves tracking collars.

Everything seemed to be going well until one of the pieces of equipment in the Batarian camp had detected that the last of the slaver race had been killed and automatically signaled for the slave’s tracking collars to activate and detonate on a delayed timer. Ultimately there had been nothing they could do for the two slaves, only helplessly witness the humans resigned reaction to their fate, and their grief and tenderness with one another as the audible alerts from their collars began the countdown to their deaths. With only seconds left to escape the blast radius the four asari took shelter at the far end of the hallway that joined the front room of the home with the rest of the building. 

As the reverberation from the explosion died away, the youngest huntress of the three, Liara T’Soni, bowed her head and with regret murmured, “Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess.” The asari maiden had tried to access the control functions of the slaves’ collars and disarm them, but had not been able to crack the security programs designed to prevent just such efforts within the seconds she had to make the attempt. As it was, she had kept trying for so long that Lt. Kurin had come back for her and physically hauled her out of the front room and into the hallway just moments before the detonation.

Lt. Kurin turned to her, a displeased frown creasing a line between her brows as she regarded her subordinate. "I ordered you to leave. By staying, you risked not only your own life but mine as well since I had to pull you away. That left T'Goni as the sole Huntress to protect the child."

Liara turned to face the commando, defensiveness writ upon her expression, "I..." She began and then fell silent as she faltered before the stern gaze of the Lieutenant. After a moment's silence she responded, "My apologies Lieutenant, I did not mean to endanger you or anyone else," her cheeks flushing a darker blue in embarrassment.

Lt. Kurin's expression softened as her steel grey eyes drifted up the hallway. "I understand why you tried, but you need to follow orders or you will end up getting not only yourself hurt or killed, but also others." Letting the subject drop the commando shifted her attention to the young huntress’s omni-tool, “Were you able to get any useful data?”

Liara glanced down at the holographic display screen of her still active omni-tool. “Yes,” she replied, her satisfaction at that fact muted by everything that had happened afterward. She tapped away at the haptic interface, highlighting some of the data for the commando. “As we already knew, every collar has a different code and frequency required to disarm it. I was able to discover a relationship between the frequency of the remote detonation code and the command frequency of the collar, allowing me access to the collar's programming interface.” She ducked her head before glancing up the hallway toward where they had left the slaves…the now dead slaves. “Unfortunately there was not enough time remaining for me to bypass the device's security measures and gain administrative level access so that I could disarm it."

Larisa Kurin's eyes widened in surprise at this information and then narrowed in thought, “Good work, and quick thinking looking for that connection," she praised the younger asari, now understanding why Liara had kept delaying instead of obeying immediately. The timing of their scanning and of the detonation signal together had been a random fortuitous happenstance, one that wouldn’t be at all easy to recreate given the required circumstances. Still though, the maiden had endangered the team as well as the child they were supposed to protect and their orders had been clear, the safety of the civilians and themselves came before obtaining information about the Human slaves.

“She was a slave?” The young asari spoke for the first time, causing the three adults to turn toward her. “She had a weapon, why didn’t she kill them instead of my mother?” 

Liara’s blue eyes focused upon the younger asari who appeared to be no more than thirty or so years old. The child’s voice was filled with bitter anger, but her eyes revealed her keen grief to young huntress. The child was too young to be without her mother’s guidance; asari children depended upon their mental connection with their mother’s to keep them centered and guide them as they developed to full adulthood. Without that essential connection their ability to develop proper empathy and make close connections with others was greatly decreased. Young asari who lost their mothers were usually taken in by either their mother’s sisters or mother’s mother, someone whom the child already knew and trusted to re-form that mental connection and give them the guidance they needed to develop into a mentally healthy adult.

“They’re too afraid of the Batarians and too conditioned to obey them to probably even think about rebelling against them,” Lt. Kurin finally responded to the child's question. “They take the humans away from their mothers when they are very young and then punish them harshly for any disobedience." The commando’s expression grew grimmer as she looked up the hallway toward the front room, "Any human that would take their weapon and try and fight...the Batarians have already killed them. The ones we fought today were the ones that accepted their slavery."

Succinct and accurate, Liara thought, recalling the through briefing they had received upon the new race which had included not only medical reports, but also psychological reports. Medical scans taken by the joint infiltration teams showed distinctive patterns of healed stress fractures, ligament and cartilage damage which together indicated that the Human slave soldiers had been taken while very young and then trained while their bones were still growing and weaker than an adults. That was not all the medical scans had shown, they head also shown other injuries, one’s which silently bore witness of the Batarian’s cruel abuse of their Human slaves, abuse that was both physical and sexual.

Speaking of abuse, the huntresses eyes narrowed as she noticed a deeper blue area and swelling along the child’s crest as well as the split lip and evidence of bleeding. Her lips curved downward in a concerned frown as she stepped away from Lt. Kurin and toward the young asari, bringing up her omni-tool and initiating its medical scanning protocol. She reached out and gently touched the child’s face, “You are injured,” she commented as her gaze flickered toward the screen to read the results of her scan.

“The female…human struck me,” the youngster responded, “when I tried to talk to her.” her blue eyes flickered up the hallway briefly before returning to Liara’s. “Then the batarian,” her breathing picked up as fear filled her expression, “he hit me twice very hard. I thought he was going to kill me when I asked him to stop, but then he said something about having another way of punishing me after he put something in,” she looked up at Liara, “what was he talking about?”

“He’s dead,” Aeian T’Goni informed the youngster bluntly before the younger huntress could respond to her, “He can’t hurt you or anyone else anymore.”

The medical scan on Liara’s omni-tool beeped as it finished, drawing her attention to it. From the results of the scan, it did not appear as if the young asari was severely injured. Though she had severe bruising along one side of her crest, the cartilaginous structures had fulfilled their purpose as nature had designed them and protected her skull and brain from injury. “The bruising will be painful for several days until it heals,” the huntress reported her findings aloud for both the child’s sake and her companions, “but there is no permanent damage. As for this,” Liara bent down to examine the child’s injured lip more closely, “some medical seal will bind the skin together so that it will not scar.”

“It does hurt,” the youth confirmed, raising one hand to gingerly touch the bruised area of her crest. Then she asked them once again, “What was he going to do to me?”

Confronted with the question for a second time Liara finally answered, “The Batarians put a microchip in their slaves which directly stimulates the brain’s pain centers. They use it to punish their slaves when they don’t want to physically hurt them.” She didn’t go into any more detail about the exact process or the fact that the slaver race did not use any anesthetic upon the slave during the procedure. The child had already been frightened enough without knowing what else the Batarians had planned to do to her.

The youth seemed to mull that over in her mind for a moment before looking up the hallway and asking, “Did they have them?”

It was fairly obvious who the child was referring to, “Yes, the Batarians put them in all their slaves,” Liara confirmed.

The young asari stared up the hallway for a moment longer before turning back to her fellow asari. “Thank you for saving me,” she said to them, and then turned to look the other way…toward the back of the home. A shift in her breathing was all the warning they had before the child began crying, “Mother…mother is there in the kitchen, the female slave killed her.”

Instantly Liara moved to kneel and take the youngster into her arms, saying softly, “I am sorry we were not able to arrive earlier. Your mother is with the Goddess now and has been embraced by her. She is no longer bound to either life or death but merely awaits you in that timeless existence.” The child nodded as she leaned into the comfort of the young huntress’s arms, finally giving into her grief now that the danger of her own life abruptly ending had passed.

Lt. Kurin moved closer, placing one comforting hand on the young asari’s shoulder as she knelt down beside them. “What is your name?” she questioned the child.

“Tarina T’Coura,” the youngster stifled her sobs long enough to answer.

“Your family is from Armali?” Liara questioned recognizing a common perioikos, or working class, family name from the great Thessian city-state of her birth. Her fellow Armali native, Aeian T’Goni, who had been keeping watch, looked over in curiosity as she also recognized the family name.

The child nodded, “Yes, my yiayià, Yasera T’Coura, and my theia, Eumelia T’Coura, both live in Armali.”

Liara was relieved to hear that the youngster’s grandmother and aunt still lived; either would take her in and raise her as their own. A similar circumstance had occurred in her own family when one of her cousins, Aikaterine, had lost her mother, Vasalika T'Soni, when she was only six years old. Her yiayià, Matriarch Livia T'Soni, the Grameno of the T'Soni lineage and theia to Liara's own mother, Matriarch Benezia T'Soni, had taken in her granddaughter and raised her.

Ten minutes later, after having made their way out of the house via a side entrance so that they would not have to go out through either the front room or the kitchen area, Lt. Kurin lead their small group to where the Fourth Rapid Reaction Force had set up base camp until regular defense forces from Illium could relieve them. There they would make arrangements for both Tarina and her mother’s body to be sent to her remaining family on Thessia. As they made their way through Zesmeni’s underground cavern system, Liara contemplated how close the Hegemony had come to successfully taking this small mining colony. Not only would the Batarians have denied the Republics its militarily important resources of titanium and lithium, but it would have served as a staging ground for what was undoubtedly the Hegemonies true target in the Crescent Nebula - the vibrant Asari colony trade world of Illium.

Fifteen years ago any suggestion that she would be contemplating military strategy as a novice huntress would have left the archeologist speechless with incredulity at the very suggestion. Prior to 4700 RE Liara had been focused upon researching the Protheans, afire with a desire to find out what had happened to them to cause the demise of their great Empire. The Asari had come across enough Prothean ruins on eezo poisoned, destruction torn dead worlds that they knew the Protheans had been fighting a galaxy wide war when something had happened to wipe out not only themselves but their mysterious enemy as well. 

Then in 4701 RE, one of the many non-functional relays the Asari and Salarians had discovered during their galactic explorations had come online and become responsive to transit commands. A joint Salarian and Asari exploration team had been sent though the newly active relay and discovered that it lead to the Attican Beta Cluster. A few months later the exploration discovered a Prothean colony planet covered with ruins whose atmosphere was poisoned with severe eezo contamination. Both the Asari and Salarian’s had discovered several such planets in their explorations. Usually such ruins were dangerous to explore even for Asari due to the severity of the eezo poisoning and what exploration could be safely carried out yielded few answers as to why they were in such condition. 

At first glance the planet, which the explorers named Feros, seemed to be the same as all the other Prothean colony worlds that had been discovered and then a scanning probe discovered signs of an underground installation buried deep within an older mountain range. The bunker, once its main entrance was discovered and breeched, proved to be nearly intact including a number of the optical cores of its data network. Both governments immediately organized and sent teams of data recovery experts, archeological researchers, and linguistic experts to Feros to discover what information the bunker held about the Protheans and the cause of the demise of their Empire. 

Thirteen years ago, Dr. Liara T’Soni had been excited and honored to have been chosen as one of those archeological researchers for the Asari Republics despite her relative youth compared to the other asari chosen for the research team. It had taken almost six months for the technicians to recover what data they could from the ancient optical drives and then another year for the archeologists and linguistic experts to translate the data. Once the data was translated however, the information contained on those drives answered almost every question they had about the Protheans, their Empire, and how it all had come to an end.

The Protheans had been involved in an Empire wide war, but not against a race of created artificial intelligences as many researchers had believed…or not exactly. Their enemies, which the Protheans had named Reapers, were a race of organic-synthetic constructs which for billions of years had harvested the galaxy of intelligent space faring life in a cycle of galactic extinction. The Protheans knew that each harvested race was used in the construction of new Reaper for their own people had been herded together and forced into massive Reaper processing facilities for the production of the raw organic material required for a Reaper’s construction.

The Reapers had come through a massive space station which the Protheans had discovered early in their explorations of the mass relay system. The Protheans named the station the Citadel and made it the center of their galactic empire, thus it was easy for the Reapers to nearly completely destroy the majority of the Prothean Empire’s government in the first few hours of the war. The Citadel had been a trap, hiding the fact that it was actually a massive relay itself that linked to where the Reapers had been waiting in dark space outside the galaxy.

Even though the Protheans threw the entire might of their galaxy wide Empire against the Reapers they steadily lost system after system to the Reapers seemingly inexorable advance. After nearly a century of struggling merely to slow down their genocidal aggressors, the Protheans were on the verge of extinction. In desperation, the remaining free Protheans concentrated all their efforts into building a massive weapon called the Crucible whose plans they had discovered from a data cache left by the Inusannon, the preeminent race of the previous cycle. The Protheans had lacked an essential part of the weapon however; a missing piece named the Catalyst which channeled and refined the energy released by the weapon so that it only affected the Reapers. Realizing that their defeat and the end of their race was inevitable if they did not finish the weapon, the Protheans, driven by desperation, discovered a way to activate the Crucible without the Catalyst. 

The result of activating the Crucible without the necessary component to channel the energy released from the device was uncertain, and predictions by their scientists ranged from dire to merely short term damage to the mass relay system. Perhaps something terrible might happen was not the same as being certain something terrible might happen however and it was certain that the Reapers would win within the next few decades if something drastic did not occur to stop them. With the threat of extinction overshadowing them, the remaining Prothean military commanders decided to activate the Crucible. As they had hoped the massive amount of energy released from the weapon was channeled though the mass relay system, spreading from solar system to solar system and destroying every Reaper that it came in contact with throughout the galaxy. 

On the occupied planets such as Feros unfortunately the Reaper’s destruction came with a very high price as the direst of the scientists’ predictions came true. The mass effect cores of the dreadnought sized synthetic-organic constructs exploded, creating widespread destruction and massive craters in the planet’s surface where they had been standing and releasing poisonous amounts of eezo into the atmosphere. The few Prothean survivors of the colony planet could not escape the Attican Betta Cluster either for when they attempted it they found that the mass relay was inactive and unresponsive. Cut off from the rest of the galaxy and trapped on a rapidly dying planet the few remaining Protheans upon Feros eventually died as well. 

Nearly Forty-eight thousand years ago and against impossible odds, the Protheans had succeeded in destroying the Reapers and ending their billion year long cycle of destruction. In the end, it proved to be a hollow empty victory for them as the Protheans ultimately followed the Reapers into the end of their existence. However they had ensured that no other sentient species would suffer the fate as they or those races that had come before them, something for which the Salarians and Asari were very grateful once they finished deciphering the information they had found in the optical data arrays. The idea that the Reapers could have been awaiting in dark space for the Asari and Salarian’s to reach a stage where they were deemed worthy of harvesting before descending upon them as they had the Protheans was a terrifying one.

The discovery of the bunker upon Feros solved many ancient mysteries such as the cause of the two bright stars that had briefly appeared in Thessia's skies over twenty thousand years ago. In 3370 RE the Asari Republic sent a long range exploration ship to the location of the event, six years later the vessel arrived at the site and found minuscule debris and massive amounts of dispersed eezo. There was enough dispersed material for the asari surveyors to prove that at least two Mass Relays used to exist within the system as well as a large artificial structure. With the additional information gleaned from the Prothean data drives the researchers now knew that the large artificial structure had been the Citadel and the eezo had come from both the the relay hidden inside the massive space station as well as the regular mass relay nearby. It had taken the light from the destruction of the Citadel and nearby mass relay when the Crucible had been activated nearly twenty-five thousand years to reach Thessia and show up for almost a month in the night sky as two closely spaced bright stars.

Since ancient times in the night skies of Thessia and Sur’Kesh stars had abruptly brightened and then remained that way. Astronomers of both races had theorized that their suns had went nova but had been at a loss for an explanation as to why so many nova’s had occurred across the galaxy at the same time, approximately fifty thousand years ago. Knowing what they did now the researchers were able to confidently propose a reason for those suns going nova. In some solar systems the mass relays instead of being damaged by the Crucible’s energy had been destroyed by it, releasing enough energy to destabilize the solar systems nearby sun and causing it to explode.

The information the Asari and Salarian researchers had discovered in the bunker also explained why so many relays were inactive or active but appeared to have no other matching relay at the far side making transit though them impossible. The entire mass relay system had been severely damaged when the Protheans had activated the Crucible. Some relays had been destroyed leaving parts of the transit system impassable and others had merely been damaged and required time, a very long time, to repair themselves.

When the Asari had first developed space flight they had eventually discovered the mass relay at the outer edge of their solar system. Unfortunately the relay had been unresponsive to their efforts at discovering its purpose and eventually their space program had focused its efforts on developing a better faster than light drive capable of reaching the four other solar systems within their own local area of space which the astronomers believed might have habitable planets for colonization. The Asari had already colonized Sanves, Lucia and Niacal when the mass relay in their homeworld’s solar system, the Parthina System, finally began emitting signals in 3344 RE. The Asari were finally able to activate the relay and discovered it was a means of space transportation that would allow them to cross vast distances in a very short period of time allowing the Asari to finally begin exploring the larger galaxy outside of their local space. The Salarian’s had much of the same issue only it had taken their relay another three hundred years to activate.

On a more personal level Liara had felt vindicated by the information they had found within the Prothean bunker. The asari maiden had written several papers theorizing that the Protheans had been only the most recent galaxy spanning sentient race to meet with a sudden end, but they had been largely ignored due to her age and the fact that the conclusions she had drawn contradicted those of older and better known researchers. Before the Protheans had become a galactic power there had been a race known as the Inusannon, and before them yet other galactic empires whose existence had also abruptly ended in a regular and repeated pattern of galactic extinction. The Reapers and their cycle of extinction explained the patterns Liara had seen in the data she had spent so many decades researching.

As satisfying as it had been to have been selected for such an important Prothean research site as the Feros bunker and then to have her theories of cyclic extinction proven correct, once most of her questions about the Protheans had been answered the thought of spending the rest of her life studying them did not hold the fascination for Liara as it had before the discovery at Feros. The studious maiden had thought she would spend her entire life studying the Protheans and discovering their history, now at the age of one hundred and two, she at a loss as to what she wanted to do with the remainder of her life.

Though she was very close to her mother, Matriarch Benezia T’Soni, and had loved the seven years she spent on her mother’s sitruua plantations on the colony world of Lusia learning about how to raise and process the plant used by the asari as their main source of tea, she was not yet ready to devote her full attentions to the business. Like all maidens she was possessed of the desire to explore and learn about her universe at this stage of her life.

While she had been upon a Prothean research excavation on the planet Aethoyner on the borders of Asari claimed space, the Hegemony had sent a unit of batarian soldiers to take her captive. The Hegemony had planned on using her safety to force her mother to give them information about certain pieces of weapons technology recently developed by the Asari Republics. Fortunately Matriarch Benezia had happened to learn about the attempt though her contacts in the Union, who themselves didn’t want the Batarians to acquire such technologies, and was able to send a team of commandoes to prevent the kidnapping.

Immediately afterward the matriarch enrolled her daughter in one of the most well renown biotic training facilities upon Thessia, Elibio Academy just outside of Serrice. Liara had finished up her Doctorate degree in Xeno Anthropology and Prothean Studies while attending classes at the Academy to teach her better control over her biotics and unarmed combat training to protect herself if for some reason she could not use her biotics. In short she had gotten most of the same training that young maidens received when they were interested in becoming Huntresses in one of the many Republic Guard units on Thessia or a colony world.

Less than two years after the discovery upon Feros the Hegemony attacked Esan for a second time and were able to overrun the planet’s defenders using vorcha and a new race of slave soldier that the Asari had never before encountered. Almost a year later the Hegemony repeated the tactic to successfully take the Salarian colony world of Erinle. In response, both governments began building more ships and began developing strategies to counter the Batarian’s attacks. The Hegemony was obviously intending on undertaking a protracted siege of both Asari and Salarian space, taking one planet at a time with overwhelming force and then entrenching it against any efforts of the Republics or Union to retake their territory.

Known for being outspoken almost ruthlessly blunt in her manner of speaking, Matriarch Aethyta was the first to openly call for more asari maidens to become huntresses and commandoes rather than going into business or joining mercenary companies. In a subtle shift of Republic policy several other matriarchs followed her lead, though in less strident tones and using less blunt speech. Matriarch Benezia, Liara’s mother was one of them, she had always advocated that the Republics needed to be self-sufficient in all respects and that while they should look for and develop solid alliances with the other races they should not become dependent upon those same allies.

Concerned by her mother’s growing focus upon the actions of the Hegemony, Liara decided to undertake her own research of the slaver race. It did not take the highly intelligent maiden very long to understand why the Hegemonies new tactics and level of aggression were so greatly concerning the Matriarchs. The loss of Esan had weakened the Republics by a small amount. If the Hegemony kept successfully attacking Asari colony worlds they would soon noticeably affect the ability of the Asari to defend themselves against the Batarian’s aggression due to several factors. Lost civilian populations, lost military personnel and naval ships, lost raw material access, a general lessening of economic robustness in the Asari economy, everything was tied together and affected each other. The result of her analysis was obvious and inescapable; if the Hegemony’s advances were not soon halted there was a very real chance that they would eventually defeat her people.

The T’Soni linage traced its line back to Cerelia T’Soni who as a young maiden vowed to end the cruelty of the ardat-yakshi lead Myndourites after seeing her village and parents slaughtered by their forces. Cerelia eventually rallied an alliance of tribes and led the forces that had defeated the Myndourites, ending their six hundred year long reign of fear and tyranny over a significant portion of Thessia. Later in her life, after the death of her bondmate, Cerelia had gone on to found the Justicar Order, seeing the need of the innocent for an order of dedicated protectors. It did not take Liara long to decide that she could do no less than her renown ancestor. The Republics needed huntresses and Commandoes to protect their people from the aggression of the Batarian Hegemony much more than they needed Prothean researchers. Thus in 4706 RE the young maiden turned aside from her studious past and joined the Armali Republican Guard as a Huntress trainee despite her mother’s silent fears for her safety.


	3. An Intelligence Agent and a Briefing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: More history, this time focusing on the relationship and history between the Republics and Salarian Union and another character is introduced.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 12/01/2013; 12/09/2013

Tela glanced at her omni-tool, noting the time, and then sat down upon a nearby bench to wait as she let her gaze wander over the familiar campus grounds of Serrice University.  Despite signs of renovation and expansion here and there the grounds looked basically the same as they had when she had attended the preeminent Thessian university over four hundred years ago. She had been so young and innocent then, Tela mused, so certain even before her Rite of Adulthood at one hundred years of age that her life’s path was known and measured. She would finish her dual degree in Business Accounting and Business Data Analysis, be given a position in the accounting department of her mother’s business, Serrice Analytica, and begin the long process of learning everything she needed to know in order to take over management of the business once her mother felt she was ready for the responsibility. Sometime along the way, once she became a matron, she would find a bondmate and have a daughter.

Tela smiled in wry amusement at the memory of her younger self; well at least she had gotten the last part correct though little else about her life was as she had imagined it would be as a young maiden.  Instead of joining her mother's company, she had been approached by the Asari Republics Intelligence Service just before her graduation and offered a position as an intelligence analyst focusing on government, corporate, and securities and commodities fraud investigations.  Two days after her graduation she accepted the offer with her mother's prideful encouragement.  It was an honor for the Vasir lineage, one of the minor _patrikios_ , or noble, houses of Serrice, for one of their daughters to be approached by the Republics government, especially the highly selective Republic Intelligence Services, and asked to serve.

Working as an intelligence analyst for the Republics had proven to be a career the asari maiden excelled in, rising through the ranks and eventually picking up a second degree in Data and Network Security along with Huntress and then Commando training to hone her infiltration and combat biotic skills.  She had proven herself and excelled in every task and mission assigned to her.  Now, several centuries later, Tela had long since left the desk work of a mere intelligence analyst behind and was a highly respected Senior Intelligence Field Agent entrusted with sensitive missions of vital importance to the Republics.

Sometime along the way she had indeed found a _daer_ , or bondmate, even though he had not been one entirely approved by her mother as Kiroku had been a salarian.  He had been perceptive, intelligent, and possessed a keen sense of humor that had lightened her more serious nature.  Though they had only a few decades together before his death, she had treasured those years and still treasured her memories of him.  Kiroku had been an intelligence agent in the Union's Special Tactics Group, which had been how they had met nearly a century ago.  Their daughter, Paranthia, was the reason Tela was here this morning, the young maiden attended the university as a graduate engineering student but was still in her morning class.  As soon as it was finished, mother and daughter were to have lunch together at their favorite nearby restaurant, Akatio a café near Serrice Square Park.

Tela’s duties to the Republics frequently called her away from Thessia, her daughter, and her family, thus she made every effort to be with them when she was home.  Such was the sacrifice she was willing to make however, in order to ensure their safety and the safety of her people.  The Asari Republics had no close allies other than the Elcor in the galaxy.  The Union, while a valued trading partner and ally against the aggression of the Batarians, was not as close or as trusted an ally as the Courts of Dekkuna to the Republics.  Despite her love for Kiroku, Tela was not blind to the amphibian species faults and weaknesses.  The Salarians almost obsessive need to ensure that they could win any war before it started meant that the Asari always had to be wary of what the Salarians had planned as a contingency if the cordial relations between their governments ever took a turn for the worse. 

The two government’s current strained relationship was disappointing given that first contact with the Salarians in 3720 RE had gone very well.  The Republics had initially hoped they would be able to forge a close alliance with the Union.  Then in 3780 RE the Salarian League of One had targeted for assassination several influential Matriarchs who cautioned against trusting the Salarian Union too quickly, believing that quietly removing the dissenting voices would lead to quicker improved relations between the two governments.  The League had not counted on how powerful the biotics of these Matriarchs were or the skill of the Commandoes protecting them.  If the assassins did not succeed in killing their target on their first shot while unsuspecting of any danger, they did not succeed on the second due to the power of the Matriarch’s barriers and the abilities of the Commandoes protecting them.

Instead of cleanly making their assassinations and slipping away before the Asari authorities could figure out who was responsible, the assassins failed to kill almost half their designated targets, two of the salarian assassins were killed, and the other ten barely managed to escape Thessia without being apprehended.  Though the Republics law enforcement agencies did not know the specific identities of the two dead salarian assassins, the sophistication of their weapons, armor and extraction methods strongly hinted at the support of one or more powerful Daltresses.  The political situation between the Republics and Union went from promising to the cusp of war in an instant, the Asari plebiscite for once ready to forsake thoughtful and reserved extensive discourse for decisive action against the Salarian Union for their unprovoked attack upon their honored and revered leadership.  Several of the Matriarchs killed that day had thousands of devoted followers and many times that number who looked to them for political guidance. 

At first the Union attempted to disavow any knowledge of the assassination attempts or the identities of the assassinations.  When that failed to do anything other than deepen the Asari’s ire, the Union's Inner Cabinet in a last ditch effort to prevent all out war finally revealed the identity of the assassins and the name of the Daltress who had given the orders for the operation: the League of One and Daltress Rellon.  Before any arrangements for extradition could be made however, the remaining ten members of the League along with the Daltress who had ordered the assassinations disappeared. 

As equally unconvinced by the Union's claims of innocence in the disappearance as they had been the Salarian's claims of innocence in the assassination attempts on their Matriarch's, the Republics formally ended all trade agreements with the Union and began reinforcing their border defenses.  Before the situation between the two governments could deteriorate further into open warfare however, every member of the Union's Inner Cabinet, the highest decision making office in the Salarian government, was assassinated.  Though there was no conclusive evidence linking the murders to the rogue League of One, the Salarians were certain they were responsible for the killings. 

The Salarian Union was thrown into complete disarray by the loss of the Inner Cabinet.  It would have been a favorable time for the Republics to launch an attack, but they did not, instead the Matriarchs, who were well aware of how much open warfare with the Union would cost the Asari, chose to wait and watch.  Less than a week later the Union reformed their civilian government and immediately declared the remaining members of the League of One and Daltress Rellon enemies of the state and sent a team of STG agents after them.  Most of the salarian agents never returned, those few that did reported no sightings of either the League or Daltress. 

Over the course of the next few decades relations improved from their near-war state after the assassination attempts and trade gradually resumed between the Union and Republics to the benefit of both governments economies.  The memory of what the Salarian’s had attempted did not fade from the Asari populace’s mind however, and a new wary appreciation for what the amphibious race’s war doctrine of winning a war by any means before declaring it might mean for the Asari became predominant in the minds of the Matriarchs when it came to discussions about the Republic’s diplomatic relationship with the Salarian Union.

Despite these two facts, over the centuries the situation between the two governments improved to the point that it seemed as if they would finally develop the closer ties with one another that Daltress Rellon had tried to force with her orders to the League of One.  Before any policy changes with the Republics actually occurred however, the ruling Daltresses of the Union once again demonstrated that they lacked both foresight and wisdom, quietly erasing those diplomatic gains.  Focusing on short term goals and battles of prestige over one another, the ruling Daltresses seemed blind to the possible disastrous long term consequences of their decisions upon not only their own race, but also potentially the Asari as their allies.

In 4489 RE a salarian exploration ship had discovered a new sentient species, the insectoid Rachni.  Unfortunately this first contact did not go as peacefully as that between the Asari and Salarians.  Ignoring all communication attempts, the Rachni ships immediately began to fire upon the exploration ship forcing it into retreating from the Rachni’s solar system.  Instead of pursuing however, the ships of the insectoid race stopped just past the last planet of the system and remained there, apparently on guard and still not responding to the salarian explorers attempts at communication with them.

Subsequent efforts by both the Asari and Salarians to establish diplomatic relations with the insectoid race were met with exactly the same results, the Rachni ignored all communication attempts and any movement into the system past their ‘territorial borders’ was met with hostility.  Eventually the Republics ceased their attempts at contact; they did however maintain a close watch in case the Rachni decided to begin colonizing other systems.  At the moment the insectoid race was not a threat to the Republics, however with their unwillingness to tolerate any other species within their claimed territories, if they attempted to colonize a world near or within Asari space they would need to be stopped.

Everything they knew about the Rachni indicated the insectoid race was completely uninterested in interacting with other intelligent species, thus their sudden attack on Sur’Kesh in 4489 RE came as a complete surprise.  The Rachni possessed a much larger fleet of ships than either the Union or Republics had ever suspected from the single colony world they had discovered.  The ships of the insectoid race completely decimated the Union Fleet assigned to protect the Salarian homeworld and then launched a targeted invasion of the surface of the planet.  Less than an hour later the Rachni ground forces returned to their ships and then the entire Rachni fleet departed as suddenly as it had arrived. 

The ruling Daltresses of the Union claimed that the attack had been entirely unprovoked by the Salarians.  The Republics did not believe them; the sole location that the Rachni had focused their entire ground-side attack upon had been in the middle of a wilderness preserve and far from any significant population center.  Though they had no definitive proof, the Matriarchs believed the STG had somehow managed to kidnap one or more Rachni, perhaps even one of the Queen’s asari and salarian scientists believe existed, and brought them to Sur’Kesh.  The Rachni 'invasion' had actually been a successful rescue operation – or at least that was what the Asari believed was true.

The Union had not been pleased with the Republics refusal to assist them in a retaliatory attack upon the insectoid species.  Perhaps that had been the impetus behind the Salarian’s turning their attention to the Krogan, a massive reptilian race with aggressive temperaments which the Republics had discovered shortly after first contact with the Batarian Hegemony, and beginning to uplift them despite the warnings of the Matriarchs.  The Asari felt compassion for the plight of the Krogan on their war-torn, radioactive world, but also realized the reptilian race would only bring their desire for strife and instinct for aggressive competition with them if they were uplifted as they were now.

A rise in the general noise of conversation around her drew Tela out of her thoughts to focus more on her surroundings.  Clusters and groups of asari, mostly young maidens, were emerging from the nearby buildings.  She glanced down at her omni-tool; late morning classes had just ended.  The matron rose, straightened her dark blue business dress and headed toward the white columned building which housed the universities political sciences classes.  A smile curved her lips as soon as she spotted her daughter emerging from the shadows of one of the open archways that led deeper inside the ancient building. 

Among the predominantly of blue hues of the maiden’s around her Paranthia's unusual lavender complexion was just noticeable enough to suggest that she was _diatheriós_ , an asari of mixed parentage with an alien race.  Opinions among the Asari of the _diatheriós_ were mixed and whether or not that opinion was positive, negative or neutral often depended upon whether or not the asari in question was of the _patrikios_ or _perioikos_.  Generally the _perioikos_ , or working classes, were more accepting of the _diatheriós_ , but then they were also more accepting of close relationships between asari and other species.  Among the _patrikios_ however, the _diatheriós_ were said to weaken the identity and blood of the Asari.  Unless prior approval for the pregnancy was sought from both the mother’s own mother and the Grameno of the lineage the mother risked her daughter not being recognized as a daughter of the lineage, meaning that the child could not inherit any family property.

Such approval was rarely given unless, as in the Vasir lineage, it was known that the linage carried the traits of the Ardak-Yakshi.  One of Tela’s _theias_ , Makera, was an Ardak-Yakshi and had been sent to the Monastery on Lessus when she was a very young maiden and she was only the latest of the Vasir lineage to be afflicted with the genetic condition.  Normally Tela’s choice of taking a salarian as a _daer_ would have been frowned upon by her family, her _patrikios_ peers, and might have affected her career in the Intelligence Services, but in her case it was overlooked and accepted…at least for the most part.  She was very aware that it would have been more acceptable for her to take another asari as her _daer_ instead of Kiroku and only asked him to be the donor for her daughter.  Her smile deepened as her daughter caught sight of her and the maiden’s expression immediately brightened.  At least her decision had not reflected upon Paranthia or affected her chances for advancement with Asari society, she had made sure that both her mother and the Granemo of the Vasir lineage would accept her daughter before she became pregnant with her.

“Mother,” Paranthia greeted Tela with a warm smile as she stopped before the older asari and then respectfully bowed her head.

The matron held out her hand for her daughter to take and place over her heart.  As soon as she felt the fabric of Parthina’s dress and the warmth of her child’s body under her palm she bent and placed her lips upon her daughter’s forehead for a few seconds before straightening, completing the formal greeting.  The _perioikos_ might greet one another more informally, but stricter adherence to the ancient traditions was expected among the _patrikios._    “I hope that this morning’s class went well,” she responded to her daughter.  “Did you have anything you needed to take care of before we go to lunch?"

“No, nothing now,” Paranthia responded, “I need to go to the library, but I can do that after lunch.  Besides I’m hungry.”  The young maiden paused a moment as she looked her mother up and down, “You look very nice today, I like that dress.”

Tela smiled as she smoothed one hand down the fine dark fabric, “Thank you, hopefully the Matriarchs will find it pleasing as well.” 

Paranthia’s smile faltered at the reminder of just why her mother was dressed in one of her best suits.  Meetings with the upper echelons of the Republic’s government usually meant that the matron would be going away on another assignment and she had only just come back from her last one two weeks ago.  “I’m sure they will,” the maiden tried to respond in a normal tone to hide her disappointment.  She was used to her mother having to be away frequently, but that did not mean that she liked it.  At least now she lived in a small shared apartment near the campus and didn’t have to stay at her grandmother’s estate in Ulee while her mother was gone.

Tela took note of her daughter’s downcast expression as she motioned for them to start walking.  Akatio, the café they were going to, was not far, but it would take them a few minutes to get there.  Once they were moving she asked again, “So how were your morning’s classes?” hoping to distract her daughter.  She too was unhappy at the thought of leaving her family so soon, but she was also curious as to why the Matriarchs had contacted her last night and arranged for a meeting this afternoon.  It was unlike them to move so swiftly, and Tela suspected this afternoons meeting would concern the Hegemony’s failed attack on Zesmeni a few days ago.

The smile reappeared upon her daughter’s lips as her brown eyes brightened with enthusiasm.  “Professor T’Varsa led the class in a discussion of Prothean civil structural engineering and their methods of bracing arcology skyscrapers contrasted with traditional Asari bracing methods.  It was fascinating to find out about the similarities and differences, where we came to the same design solutions as the Protheans and where we developed different architectural designs from them.”

Not being very familiar with the field of structural engineering Tela did not really understand the more technical parts of Paranthia’s explanation.  It was enough for her to see her daughter’s enthusiasm and enjoyment as she related bits and pieces of the morning class’s discussion. Several minutes later, mother and daughter passed though the Serrice Square Park and in front of the memorial at the center, a water etching of Cerelia T’Soni, who later became the first Justicar, carrying her dead lover Pastora across a battlefield.  The Thessian Guildhall, the premier center of research in the Republics, and the Serrice Temple of Athame could be seen from the park to the west, near the Serrice Bay.  To the northwest of the Temple were the Serrice Republic Government buildings including the Chamber of Twenty-Two where the Matriarch’s chosen by the High Priestess of Athame to represent the twenty-two Republics of Thessia came together to discuss changes and concerns within their communities and share their wisdom and enlightenment.

Officially the Matriarchs of the Chamber of Twenty-Two did not make any legislative decisions or wield power outside of whatever weight the plebiscite gave their opinions.  Given how Asari culture operated and the reverence given to wisdom of their Matriarchs however, these twenty-two Matriarchs chosen by the High Priestess of Athame were essentially the de facto decision making body for Thessia and often of the entire Asari Republics.  These Matriarchs were the most politically powerful asari in the Republics and no asari dared outright disregard the unified opinions issued by the Chamber less they wished to commit political and social suicide.  No, the Matriarchs of the Chamber of Twenty-Two held no official governmental power, but culturally they held a great deal of power and it had been these Matriarchs which the League of One had targeted for assassination so many centuries ago.

Fortunately they arrived at the café just before the lunchtime rush and were seated at one of the few remaining outside tables overlooking the park.  Their server was prompt and it did not take mother and daughter long to decide upon their orders and be served their meals.  “Mother,” her daughter’s hesitant tone, immediately caught Tela’s attention and she looked up from the dish of _sahini_ she was eating to glance inquiringly at her daughter.  “I was thinking of switching my classes around in the fall and taking an aerospace engineering course.”

The matron was surprised; her daughter had never before shown an interest in designing and building anything but terrestrial buildings.  “You think you might be interested in designing and building space ships?”

“Actually I was thinking of taking a systems engineering course,” Paranthia dropped her eyes to her plate and pushed around her food for a moment before glancing uncertainly back up at her mother.

Bemused by her daughter’s behavior, Tela inquired, “What brought this on, you haven’t shown much interest in systems engineering before now.”

“The Matriarchs are asking for more maidens to consider becoming Huntresses,” Paranthia responded after a brief moment.  “I don’t believe I’d make a good traditional huntress, but I could serve as an engineer upon one of the Fleet’s ships.”

A slight crease briefly formed between Tela’s brows at her daughter’s reply before she regained control over her emotions and her features smoothed.  Within the last decade several influential Matriarchs had reluctantly conceded that Matriarch Aethyta, a highly decorated retired Commando noted for her blunt, unapologetic _perioikos_ ways, was correct in what she had declared just after Esan had fallen to the Batarians - the Republics needed more maidens to do their wandering and exploring as Huntresses and Commandoes instead of as mercenaries and business leaders.  Strength in commerce, trade and diplomacy meant nothing if the Asari couldn’t protect their worlds from the Hegemony. 

Tela did not particularly like the rough spoken Matriarch, but in this she had to admit that the elder asari was correct, they needed more maiden’s willing to become Huntresses...she just hadn’t expected her daughter to decide to become one of them.  As Paranthia had stated, she wasn’t traditional Huntress material being largely uninterested in either biotic training or martial arts training.  Her instinctive response as a mother was to discourage Paranthia from this course of action, but her daughter, while not yet a full adult, was also no longer a child.  Indeed, she had not been much older herself when she had made the decision to take the position the Intelligence Service had offered her and serve Thessia.  "You will still have to qualify as a Huntress to serve in the Republic Defense Fleet," she commented after a moment, "that means you will need to attend a training academy in addition to attending your classes at the university."

"I know," the lavender hued maiden immediately replied, "there are a few academies near the university that I could easily attend.”

Her daughter had obviously given this at least some thought Tela realized, "Elibio Academy is the best, if you really want to do this I'll speak to the Headmistress about you attending."  The matron knew that Matriarch Aminta would make sure that Paranthia was thoroughly trained, and if the maiden was not suited to be a Huntress, even one serving as an engineer aboard a ship, would find a way to make that clear to her daughter.  In any case, Tela thought to herself, no matter what her daughter decided to do with her life she would be well served by the training in biotics and martial arts she would receive at Elibio.

Paranthia didn’t immediately reply, instead staring at her mother with a touch of confusion evident upon her features.  “Are you sure?” she asked instead of immediately accepting the offer, “Elibio is expensive…” her brown eyes dropped to the table as she shifted in her seat with evident unease, “and I’ve heard they have strict entrance requirements.” 

It was obvious to Tela that her daughter didn't think that she could meet those entrance requirements.   Given that the maiden had never focused on learning to use her biotics with the same dedication as she had focused on learning about engineering, the matron suspected Paranthia was correct in her self-assessment of her skills.  “Which I why I will speak with mother tonight and arrange for a trainer for you,” Tela responded, “Elibio always has a lengthy waiting list so you have time to learn the skills you need to meet their entrance requirements.”

"Yes, mother," Paranthia responded, her tone obedient but her expression confused.  "I thought..." her words trailed off uncertainly.

Tela’s brown eyes were warm and gentle with love as they met the nearly matching brown eyes of her daughter, "You thought that I would attempt to dissuade you?" 

A slight smile lightened Parthina’s expression as she admitted with some embarrassment, "Well…yes."

A matching smile curved Tela’s dark blue lips as she replied, "You have a few years yet before you can legally join the Defense Forces, daughter.  Training at Elibio Academy should help you make up your mind if you’re suited to become a Huntress or not, and you know that I've always encouraged you to better develop your biotic skills.  As for the classes, I think you will find that adding courses in systems engineering will simply widen your structural engineering knowledge base.  As Paranthia gave her a curious look she continued, “Colony worlds like Trategos, which is too cold, and Agessia where it is too hot and the air is often poisonous with volcanic gasses, require sealed and insulated buildings with their own air and filtration systems…just like those required upon a space vessel."

The young maiden’s expression turned thoughtful as she considered her mother’s advice.  "That's true,” she finally replied after a silence of several seconds, “it would probably be a good idea for me to take a few classes to familiarize myself with the technologies. Designing buildings for worlds like those does sound like an interesting challenge,” she admitted as her earlier smile returned.

Tela gazed upon her daughter fondly as the maiden returned her attention to her meal.  She loved her daughter dearly, but she would be surprised if Paranthia’s interest in joining the Asari Republic’s Navy lasted for very long once she began private training.  A part of the matron prayed that she was correct and her daughter would never become a Huntress.  She didn't want Paranthia to witness the cruelty that could exist in the galaxy or to be faced with making the types of decisions that she had made to protect their people.  Another part of her though was proud of her daughter for being willing to sacrifice for Thessia and set aside her dreams for a time to serve their people.  Huntresses often served for only a few centuries before turning to other pursuits, so her daughter wouldn’t necessarily be permanently giving up her dreams of becoming an architect if she did become a Huntress, simply delaying them for a time.  That was one of the advantages the Asari had over shorter lived species like the Elcor and Salarians, they had enough time to take up more than one profession over the course of their long lifespan.

Two hours later, Senior Intelligence Agent Tela Vasir passed though one of many busy office areas inside the governmental buildings which housed the Republics Intelligence Services and into a short hallway.  At the end of it was an antechamber which served both as a final security checkpoint and waiting area for those seeking audience with the senior staff members of the agency.  Coming to a halt before the Commandoes standing guard there she presented her identification to one of them, Commando Ianthe Xarakos who was an acolyte of Matriarch Sophronia, and then waited as the matron informed those inside of her presence.

After a moment Ianthe waved her forward, "Matriarch Galena and Matriarch Sophronia are ready for you Senior Agent Vasir," the Commando announced with a respectful inclination of her head.

Tela dipped her head in acknowledgement and then proceeded past the security checkpoint into the marble inlaid hallway beyond.  She was never quite sure if the flooring here was placed as a challenge to the Agents to move as quietly as possible upon the unforgiving stones or insurance that any sizable group of attackers could not walk upon it without being detected.  Most likely it was a bit of both reasons.  A few more turns and the Senior Intelligence Agent was at her destination, the section of office suites belonging to her immediate supervisor,  Matriarch Galene, the Director of Republic Security Services, the branch of the Asari Republics Intelligence Service that directed the activities of the Intelligence Field Agents.

The matron placed her hand upon the sensor beside the door and waited as it scanned her, a moment later it flashed its acceptance of her identity and the door opened allowing her to enter the office and meeting space beyond.  The murmur of voices led Tela to the conference room, where she knew the meeting was to take place.  Tela had arrived several minutes early for a matron did not make Matriarchs wait upon them, rather one waited upon the Matriarchs.   Unfortunately from what she could hear it seemed that she had not arrived nearly early enough, but then these were Matriarch Galene’s offices and it was in the middle of the work day, there was no telling who was in with her at the moment.  Tela stopped just inside the meeting room doorway, her brown eyes widening for a brief surprised moment as she noted precisely who was inside, before bowing her head to show her respect for those Matriarchs present within the room.

“Agent Vasir, please come in,” Matriarch Galene acknowledged her presence, allowing Tela to straighten and come further into the room.  Besides her supervisor three other Matriarchs were present, all of which were familiar to one degree or another to the Senior Intelligence Agent.   Matriarch Sophronia, the Director of the Asari Republics Intelligence Service and both Tela and Matriarch Galene’s superior, stood near a display screen along with Matriarch Galene pointing at something displayed upon it.  To their immediate left stood Matriarch Nikoleta, the Senior Commander of the Republics Rapid Response Forces.  The fourth and final Matriarch in the room was Matriarch Benezia who was seated in one of the high backed chairs.

The presence of Matriarch Nikoleta all but confirmed what Tela had suspected would be the topic of this meeting, the Fourth Rapid Reaction Force had been the unit responsible for stopping the Hegemonies attempt to take Zesmeni.  The presence of the fourth Matriarch however surprised and confused the Senior Intelligence Agent.  Matriarch Benezia was extremely influential in Asari society, not only because she was a T’Soni and her lineage was one of the twelve ancient Lineages of the Corallium Circle, but she was also the Matriarch selected to represent the ancient city-state of Armali in the Chamber of Twenty-Two.  Matriarch was highly respected teacher and guide to their people, but unlike the other Matriarch’s present she was not an official member of the Republic’s government.  Tela was familiar enough with the upper echelons of Asari society to know that the Matriarch likely was a highly trusted advisor to many in this room, but never before had she been present for any of Vasir’s briefings prior to this day.

“It is early, but as everyone is present let us begin the briefing unless anyone has an objection?” Matriarch Sophronia paused glancing around the room but only received quiet demurs as the other two Matriarchs joined Matriarch Benezia at the conference table.  Seeing that there were no objections the Matriarch gestured for Tela to take a seat at the far end of the table as she took her seat at the head of the table.  “As you are all undoubtedly already aware,” she began, “the Republics Fourth Rapid Reaction Force successfully halted an attack by Hegemony forces to take the mining colony upon Zesmeni in the Crescent Nebula.  As has become a common tactic for them, the Batarians deployed Human slave forces in the first wave of attacks to overrun the mining outpost’s defense forces with their numbers.  During the battle Commander Arena T’Louck saw an opportunity for intelligence gathering and directed one of her units led by Lt. Larisa Kurin to gather data on two Human slaves who were separated from the main body of Hegemony troops with an asari prisoner.”

Matriarch Sophronia continued, “They were successful in both freeing the young maiden and in their intelligence gathering efforts.  Huntress Liara T’Soni was able to discover a mathematical relationship between the command frequency used to remote detonate the slave’s tracking collars and the command frequency used to remotely program the tracking collars.  While she was unfortunately unable to defeat the remaining security measures on the slaves’ collars before they detonated, was successful in her attempt to access the collar’s command interface.”  She looked around the table, her steel grey eyes keen, “This discovery has opened up the possibility that an Agent with extensive experience in defeating Batarian security measures could succeed in disarming one of these tracking collars before it detonates.”

So this was why she had been the agent contacted for this briefing even though she was officially on vacation, Tela realized as the Matriarchs all looked in her direction. 

“Agent Vasir, Matriarch Galene assures me that you have the skills and experience needed to ensure a high probability of success in an operation to free one of the Hegemony’s human slaves,” Matriarch Sophronia said to the matron, confirming her suspicions.

Tela glanced briefly over at her superior, just long enough to meet the Matriarch’s gaze as the elder asari inclined her head in confirmation before replying, “Yes, I have experience with getting into Batarian data systems without tripping any of their security measures.  It’s never easy given their paranoia about us breaking into their systems,” her dark blue lips quirked in a wry smile, “but it is possible to do so if you are quick and careful.”  For this she would need all of her skills and a bit of luck as well, Tela mused, breaking into a tracking collar’s remote command instruction set and disarming it before the timer within counted down to zero and it detonated, killing the slave and, unless she could get far enough away, herself would not be easy given the Batarian’s habit of layering security measure over security measure.

To the intelligence agent’s surprise it was Matriarch Nikoleta whom spoke next instead of either of her superiors.  “In addition to your technical qualifications, you have shown that you possess great mental discipline within a meld.  Your past missions have shown that you are both capable of both forcibly extracting valuable information, information that the interrogation subject might not wish to have known and is actively trying to stop you from obtaining, and of obtaining such information from an unsuspecting meld partner without them being aware of your true intentions during the meld.”

Tela made an effort to conceal her displeasure at Matriarch Nikoleta’s choice of conversation.  Any Asari would call what the Matriarch was describing as mental rape, generally one of the gravest crimes an Asari could commit – except when done at the official behest of the government and to ensure the security and safety of the Republics.  Yes, she was skilled at obtaining information via a meld, whether the other person was willing or not or even aware of what she was doing or not, but it wasn’t a skill that she was particularly proud of possessing considering the extreme distastefulness of the act itself.

“You do not enjoy it,” Matriarch Benezia spoke for the first time, drawing Tela’s attention.  The elder asari’s brilliant blue eyes seemed to stare right though and into her, stripping away her efforts to conceal her reactions as easily as if she were but a mere child instead of a matron.  “If there had been any evidence that you did then we would not have chosen you for this task Agent Vasir.  Building upon my daughter’s discovery and successfully disarming one of the human slave’s collars is only the beginning of what will be asked of you, what remains will be the more difficult part of your mission and will require you and possibly your family to sacrifice for Thessia.”

“What remains?” Tela questioned sharply, her protective instincts rising at the Matriarch’s choice of phrasing.  How could freeing a human slave possibly involve her family?

Matriarch Galena was the one who responded to her question, “Once we have a live human slave we need to find out if they know where their home world is located, what level of control the Batarians have of their population and what defenses and forces the Hegemony has in place to ensure their control over the system.”  Her tone was patient, but there was a warning sharpness in her gaze that reminded Tela to be careful in how she spoke to them.

Before Tela could formulate a reply Matriarch Benezia swiveled in her chair, shifting her focus of attention to the other Matriarchs around the conference table.  The intelligence agent couldn’t say exactly what passed between the four powerful elder asari as their silent gazes shifted amongst them but something was decided within the space of a few seconds.

“As you are well aware,” Matriarch Benezia spoke as she turned to face Tela once again, “extracting information from an unwilling mind is damaging and inevitably leads to the subject’s death.”

The matron stared at the Matriarch for a brief second before her brown eyes flitted between the two Matriarchs at the far end of the table.  The two Matriarchs who were her superiors, the two Matriarchs who, from their continued silence, were letting Matriarch Benezia take over this part of the meeting.  “That is correct,” she confirmed as her gaze returned to the T’Soni Matriarch.

Tela had no doubt that Matriarch Benezia had noticed everything, yet the elder asari did not acknowledge her delayed answer in any way as she continued her questioning.  “What would you say your chances would be of obtaining the information we need if the subject is unaware of its significance, if for instance it is nothing more than the color of their sun, the order of their world within their solar system, or an image of their world’s nightsky?”

“Very poor,” the intelligence agent answered honestly after a moment’s consideration, “usually the subject is actively trying to hide the information desired, obtaining it is nothing more than pushing though their resistance.  Their attempts at hiding the information often actually have the effect of guiding you directly to it.  If the subject doesn’t know what you are seeking however, then you are left with sorting though as many random memories as possible before their mind becomes too damaged to proceed.”

“Then you understand why would be best if the human permitted the meld and was a willing source of information,” the Matriarch stated.

Tela almost automatically replied in the affirmative, because of course it would be best if the human slave they freed was a willing participant.  Then her mind caught up with what the Matriarch was actually saying, with everything that she had just implied with her simple sounding statement.  It was not simple at all, not with how thoroughly and brutally the Batarians had trained their human slaves to believe that they were indeed superior to their slaves and that the humans’ proper place was to be completely obedient to their every whim.  She stared back at the Matriarch, a slight frown forming upon her brow, “That would be best, but it will not be a simple matter to persuade the human to cooperate with us.”

Matriarch Benezia smiled, appearing pleased with her response, something that did not reassure the intelligence agent in the slightest.  "You are correct; it will not be a simple matter and will likely take a skillful combination of both gentleness and firmness to succeed.  The Batarians have trained them to believe that they are superior to every other race and that the Human’s proper place is to obey them unquestioningly.  You will have to overcome that conditioning, persuade the human that their former masters have lied to them, that the Asari will not be defeated by the Hegemony and that we can and will protect them if they willingly betray their former owners.  None of which will be a simple matter given the Batarian’s treatment of them."

Tela was just beginning to comprehend the full scope of what the Matriarchs wanted her to accomplish, and it was much more than just freeing a human slave.  They wanted her to gain the humans trust enough that the former slave would let her roam around freely within their mind.  That level of trust normally existed only between _daer_ , family, or very close friends.  How was she to break the Batarians’ conditioning of the slave to unquestionably obey and follow them and get the slave to trust her instead?  The answers floating through her mind were not ones she cared for or necessarily wished to act upon.  "Why not request someone with more psychological training than I for that part of the assignment?" she asked seeking a way out of being the one responsible for obtaining the desired information from the human without completely turning down this assignment.

"We need someone who knows what type of information to look for in the meld, that means we need an intelligence agent and not a psychologist," Tela's supervisor, Matriarch Galena responded.  "The only agents we have who are trained in the psychological disciplines work as psychological analysts, and they are taught to distance themselves from their subjects so they can remain objective in their evaluations.  Not a suitable attitude for gaining the trust and loyalty of this slave.  Provided of course that you manage to disarm their tracking collar," she added at the end of her statement, reminding everyone that had to be accomplished first before concerning themselves with the rest.

Matriarch Sophronia nodded, "Indeed, let us focus upon obtaining a human before we make too many other plans for them.  It may turn out that their mind may be too damaged by their treatment for anyone to gain any useful information from them no matter what their level of trust.  Agent Vasir,” she turned her full attention to the matron, “you have until tomorrow to decide whether or not to accept this mission.  I am giving you that time to consider because if all goes well you may have continued responsibility for this human until the end of their natural lifespan.  We estimate that to be less than a century but it is still a lengthy commitment for you.”  

She paused for a moment to ensure that the matron understood exactly what she had just said before continuing, “Should you accept, you will be sent to join the Fourth Rapid Reaction Force where you will work with Commander T’Louck and her staff to develop a way to use the information Huntress T’Soni discovered to create an opportunity to disarm one of the human slave’s tracking collars.  Once the human slave is acquired you may use whatever approach you deem necessary to gain their trust.  It is more important to us that you be able to search though their memories multiple times than it is that we obtain the information in a rushed manner.”

“Observe the human,” Matriarch Benezia spoke once again, drawing Tela’s attention, “learn to read their emotions and know their responses.  In this way they will tell you how to gain their trust themselves.”

The intelligence agent narrowed her eyes in thought as she considered the advice and then slowly nodded, “I understand, and if I accept this assignment will hold your advice in the forefront of my mind Matriarch as I attempt to develop a rapport with them.”

“If you do accept the assignment,” Tela thought the Matriarch’s voice held a subtle hint of amusement, “then I will be available to you for council upon this matter. Their use by the Batarian’s as slave troops to take our worlds must be halted,” the Matriarch continued, her tone turning serious, “whether or not that will be by liberating them or not will depend upon what we learn of who and what they really are as a species.  What their potential is to us as either an ally or enemy.”

The matron’s brown eyes widened for a brief moment in realization, this was why Matriarch Benezia was here at this meeting.  The Matriarch was known for her diplomatic skills when dealing not only with other Asari, but also the other species such as the Elcor and Salarians.  Her ability to read and understand the motivations of both Asari and alien, even motivations they would prefer to keep hidden, was well respected in the Republic’s diplomatic community. 

It was now obvious to her that Matriarch Benezia was one of the Matriarchs who would decide the Republics eventual course of action in regard to the Humans. Her council would help decide whether the Republics would act liberate them from their slavery or remove them as a threat to the Republics by another means such as striking their homeworld hard enough to reduce the Humans’ population to a point where the Batarians could not use them as slave shock troops against the Republics’ worlds, at least not for several human generations. It would be a harsh decision to reduce the species population to the hundreds of thousands, but if the Humans were inherently aggressive like the Krogan or even the Batarians, or duplicitous and paranoid like the Salarians, then it might be the only decision the Republic’s could make to ensure their own survival.

Tela stood and bowed her head in respect to the T’Soni Matriarch, “I understand and I am honored by your offer to share your wisdom with me.”

The matron waited until Matriarch Benezia acknowledged her bow before turning to face Matriarch Sophronia, “I will send you my answer by noon tomorrow, Director.”

Tela headed toward the Temple of Athame and its unparalleled view of Serrice Bay after the meeting was finished.  She needed to think, to consider all the implications of what the Matriarchs were asking of her.  This human, whoever they were, if their mind was intact, if they were not so inherently aggressive or deceitful that the decision was made to end their life – then if she did gain the human’s trust, she did manage to persuade them to shift their loyalty from the Batarians to the Asari…to her, then as Matriarch Sophronia had said she would be responsible for them until the end of their lifespan which could several decades long.   Not only her but also her family would be affected by the outcome of this assignment, for they too would have to come to terms with the presence of the human in her life.  This would not be an assignment that she could finish and walk away from except for the memories and her reports of what had occurred.


	4. Acquiring a Human Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: Just to clear this up - no Shepard-type character will be present in Dark Beginnings. Any human child taken to be a slave soldier/cannon fodder who would be suitable for a Shepard type character has already been killed by the Batarians prior to this point in time. I seriously considered the idea, but then decided that it simply wasn’t realistic given the extreme harshness with which I have the Batarians treat their human slaves.
> 
> Also, a note on the Asari military forces: a troop is formed of 8 patrols of two teams of two Huntresses/Commandoes, or 32 Huntresses/Commandoes. A company is made up of 8 troops for 256 Huntresses/Commandoes. A group is made up of 4 companies and a single Force is made up of 4 groups. The combined Rapid Reaction Forces are comprised of 6 Forces for over 24,000 Huntresses.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 1/29/2014

Tela Vasir rose from her seat as the _ARN Cybean_ _’_ _s_ transport shuttle settled fully upon the ground and the main hatch opened letting in warm, dry air carrying a hint of fine dust and various mechanical scents that went along with the sounds of heavy equipment and the occasional shouted command.  Stepping up to the open hatchway the intelligence agent gazed at the busy scene outside.  The shuttle had landed upon a large paved landing port area located to the east of the main military base.  Nearby were several warehouses where the base stored the majority of its supplies and machinery.  Quite a few of the workers were wearing breathing masks and as Tela drew in a deeper breath of warm air and then coughed at the grit of dust and the taste of metal upon her tongue she understood why.

The Rapid Reaction Forces Operations Headquarters and Training Center was located upon Aequitas, a marginal garden world located in the Minos Wasteland Cluster.  The planet was notable for the extensive deposits of iron oxide dust which colored its soil an almost uniform reddish color and cobalt deposits abundant enough to form bluish-purple hills.  Both the soil color and hills were highly visible from space, creating a distinctive reddish colored world with bluish-purple markings.  A decent sized colony had formed here, supporting the needs of the military base as well as those of the various mining operations based upon the planet due to its plentiful palladium, platinum, cobalt, and of course it’s easily gathered iron deposits.

Aequitas was located in a highly strategic location for the Asari Republics.  The planet was the only habitable world in the solar system where the Mass Relay for the Minos Wasteland Cluster was located, the Fortis System.  This Mass Relay was also the primary connection between the Asari Republics core worlds located in the Athena Nebula, Nimbus Cluster and Silean Nebula and the border worlds with Terminus Systems such as those located in the Crescent Nebula, Eagle Nebula and Ismar Frontier.   In addition to the Rapid Reaction Force, the Asari Republics Second Fleet, with its full complement of cruisers and frigates, was also stationed in the Fortis System.  If the Hegemony ever invaded in force from the Terminus Systems, a distinct possibility given its influence in the area, this was the best place to stop them before they could reach the colony worlds that were the backbone of the Republics’ economy.

After discussing the matter with both her daughter and her mother, Tela had accepted the Matriarch’s assignment.  Paranthia, displaying both her youth and innate kindness, had been enamored with the idea of her mother freeing a human from the Batarians and being one of the first asari to become acquainted with a member of the new species.  Tela had tried to temper her daughter’s expectations, but wasn’t certain the young maiden truly understood how being treated so harshly from such a young age would affect the human…or any being really. The intelligence agent had already resolved that she would take as much time as needed to ensure the human was not a danger her family before letting the former slave near her daughter.  If she felt the human could not be trusted, either because of the human’s innate nature or because the damage the Batarians had done couldn’t be overcome, then the human would be kept elsewhere until she had obtained all the information she could from her or him.  Afterward…well she would make the slave’s end quick and as painless as possible and upon returning to Thessia find a way to inform her daughter of her less than fully successful mission in a way that was both truthful and suited to her daughter's age and innocence.

A small cargo truck with two armed and armored asari kneeling in its bed and holding onto the sides drew Tela’s attention as the vehicle emerged from between two of the warehouses and onto the wide roadway that connected the rest of the base with the landing port area.  She was still watching the truck when the shuttle’s pilot, a dark blue asari with white facial makings, emerged from the cockpit area and came up beside her.  “That looks like your escort Agent Vasir,” the pilot commented as she gestured toward the approaching vehicle with one hand, “I’ll open up the cargo compartment so they can get your luggage.”

As the truck drew near enough for Tela to make out the features of the asari in the vehicle she immediately recognized the distinctive facial markings of the driver and one of the asari standing in the back.  It was enough for her to guess at their identity and to be confident that she was correct, for there were very few who were entitled by both family and service to Thessia to bear the ancient and honored Huntress markings of the Kurin and T’Soni lineages.  Tela continued watching the cargo truck as it drove up to the landing pad and stopped a short distance away from the transport shuttle.  As the driver and two asari in the cargo bed jumped out of the truck, Tela proceeded down the shuttle ramp to meet the trio.

“Salaa, Senior Field Agent Vasir,” the leading maiden with the characteristic light blue complexion of a purebred line and the distinctive red Kurin lineage facial markings greeted her with a polite, but not excessively deferential inclination of her head, "Welcome to the RRF Operations Headquarters and Training Center.  I am Lt. Larisa Kurin,” she turned slightly to indicate the two asari behind her, “With me are Huntress T’Goni and Huntress T’Soni from my troop.  I apologize for the necessity of rushing you, but Commander T’Louck would like to meet with you immediately.  We have just enough time to swing by your assigned quarters to drop off your luggage if you desire...but not much more than that."

Tela’s brow creased as a subtle frown formed, why would the Commander need to meet with her before she even had the opportunity to settle into her temporary quarters?  Could it have something to do with the hastily put together joint mission between the Republic’s Intelligence Services (ARIS) and the Union’s STG to destroy Hegemony assets in the Omega Nebula?  The Hegemony had lost a number of ships and troops in their failed attack on Zesmeni, leaving their outposts in the Terminus Systems temporarily vulnerable to attack.  The joint mission between the ARIS and STG was to identify targets of opportunity and then infiltrate and destroy them, focusing especially on those targets that would disrupt the Hegemony's ability to replace the cruisers and frigates that they had lost in the Crescent Nebula. 

"Salaa, Lt. Kurin, Huntresses T'Soni and T'Goni," Tela returned the Lieutenant's greeting with a polite inclination of her head.  She then let her gaze slip past Kurin to the young maiden bearing the huntress facial markings of the T'Soni lineage standing behind her.  The same young maiden whose discovery had led to her presence here for the purpose of liberating a human, and whose mother was deeply involved in deciding the Republics policy toward the enslaved race.

Liara T'Soni's smooth, lightly freckled countenance and a certain lack of tempered control in her deep blue eyes betrayed the maiden's age and lack of experience as a Huntress, but that was something that only time could teach her.  Much was expected from the maidens born into the Corallium Circle lineages, and most daughters of those families fulfilled those expectations by following the path their mothers laid before them.  Young Liara T'Soni was not following her mother's path of business and political success however; instead she had chosen to pursue first academics and now military service.  The young asari's degrees and academic accolades, in addition to her performance marks during her Huntress training, and even her posting in this unit, all spoke to her success in both and hinted at what the young maiden might achieve in time if she survived long enough to become a matron and then matriarch.  Perhaps she might even live up to the facial markings she currently bore in honor to her ancestress, Cerelia T'Soni, the original bearer of them and the founder of the Justicar Order.

Tela's attention shifted back to Lt. Kurin as she responded to her question, "I would appreciate stopping by my quarters before meeting with your Commander to drop off my gear," and then turned to see if the pilot had opened up the lower cargo hatch of the shuttle.  Between the five asari, it took only a minute or so to load Tela’s luggage, armor and weapon cases, and the few pieces of field gear in single hard sided crate that the intelligence agent thought might be needed for this assignment onto the bed of the cargo truck.  Then they were moving once again with Tela sitting in the passenger seat of the cab with Lt. Kurin driving and the two Huntresses in the back with the intelligence agent's luggage.

Approximately twenty minutes later, having paused for only a short while at the bases’ officer housing area and the quarters assigned to Tela for the duration of her mission to drop off her belongings, Lt. Kurin drove up to the front of the RRF Headquarters building and parked the cargo truck alongside several other ground vehicles of various makes.  The intelligence agent glanced over curiously as the Lieutenant typed in a brief message on her omni-tool.

"I'm letting the Commander know that we are here," the maiden responded to her questioning gaze without looking up from the holographic screen displayed above her armored forearm.  A moment later the Lieutenant deactivated the tool and opened her door in one smooth motion, "Commander T'Louck is ready to see you, if you will follow me I'll show you to her office."

After being checked though security at the front entrance, it was only a few hallways and turns later that they arrived at their destination.  The emblem of the Fourth Rapid Reaction Forces, the outline of a stooping Aratus Falcon upon a stylized shield, was imprinted into the wall next to the open archway that led to the suite of offices which housed the unit’s command staff.  Lt. Kurin led the way in, pausing only a moment by the receptionist's desk before continuing past it and through a large open room where several Huntresses were working at scattered desks.  At the far end of the room were several doorways with plaques upon them, and it was toward these doors that the trio headed with the intelligence agent following along behind them.  The Lieutenant stopped in front of the middle door with a large plaque that read Commander Fourth Rapid Reaction Forces, Commander Arena T'Louck and waved her hand in front of the sensor to announce their presence.  Less than a second later the door slid open, revealing the sizable office beyond and the purple complexioned asari in Commando leathers who rose from behind her executive style desk, revealing her full height of six foot seven inches, and motioned for them to enter.

Commander Arena T'Louck was the _diatheri_ _ó_ _s_ daughter of Matriarch Aethyta T'Louck and a hanar bondmate and like the elder asari was known for her preference for blunt honesty and unadorned truth over any effort at making her messages more politically palatable for her superiors or of softening them for her subordinates.  Thankfully, the younger T'Louck was more professional in her speech and mannerisms than her matriarchal mother, one of the reasons she had advanced in the officer ranks to hold her own command whereas Matriarch Aethyta had never advanced past the rank of Senior Lieutenant despite the elder Commandos many commendations for her service to the Republics.  The other reason that Arena T'Louck had risen to the rank of Commander despite her _perioikos_ mannerisms was that she was a brilliant tactician and strategist as well as an incredibly powerful biotic.  Skill wise Commander Arena T'Louck was an exemplar of what every Commando aspired to achieve at their craft: incredibly lethal, decisive and unhesitating in her actions, and both tactically and strategically brilliant.

Commander T'Louck rose from her seat at Vasir’s entrance, "Salaa, Senior Agent Vasir," she greeted Tela with cool politeness, her light grey eyes narrowing with both keen interest and calculating evaluation as her gaze flitted briefly over the intelligence agent’s form.  Then she turned her attention to her three subordinates who were still standing in the hallway, "Lt. Kurin, Huntresses T'Goni and T'Soni, please come into my office, your time with Agent Vasir isn't done quite yet," the matron remarked dryly and then waited until the three stepped into her office and the door shut behind them before finishing, "and it won't be until she has a live human in her possession."  A faint trace of amusement caused the corners of the Commander's lips to curve upward as her three subordinates stopped in their tracks at her announcement, their gazes flitting back and forth between the her and Vasir.  "Please, find yourselves seats," T'Louck gestured expansively, indicating the selection of chairs in the room, one of which was in front of her desk and more along one wall. 

As the intelligence agent returned the Commander’s greeting, the three maidens made their way toward the row of chairs against the wall, leaving the single chair nearest their Commander's desk for her.  Tela pulled the remaining chair back a few feet so from the desk so that she could see both the three younger asari and T'Louck.  Even after they were all seated and waiting the Commander remained silent, giving Tela a moment to examine the other matron’s features.  The other asari had unique dark purple facial markings - a stripe on her lower lip, and angular markings that arched around her eyes and along her cheeks along with two narrow marked semi-circles between her brows – that as far as Vasir knew not related in any way to any lineage markings among the many branches of the Armali T'Louck families.

"What I am about to tell you," the Commander finally began speaking, "will be announced to the entire unit in less than twelve hours, but until then you will keep this information to yourselves," she paused to give the three maidens a severe look, emphasizing her orders before continuing.  "As you know the entirety of the Rapid Reaction Forces have been put on alert in case of a second Batarian attack.  That was not the real reason however," T'Louck commented and then proceeded to inform the three Huntresses about the joint operation planned by the Republics and Salarian Special Tactics Group.

After filling them in about the basics of the joint operation, the Commander went on to specifics about the Fourth’s participation in it.  "Along with more obvious targets such as the shipyards surrounding Omega Station and the station itself, the mining facilities upon Uwan Oche, the third planet in the Kairavamori System, has also been selected as a target.  The Batarian's boron extraction facilities upon that planet are the primary supplier of boron allotropes required in the production of omni-gel for the entire Hegemony...” T’Louck smiled with slightly savage looking satisfaction before continuing, “and currently have less than half the normal amount of Hegemony naval forces defending them.  While the Republic and Union ships are bombing the facilities on Uwan Oche into a dusty crater,” she continued, “the Fourth and Fifth Rapid Reaction Forces have been tasked with attacking the Hegemony’s military installations and forces upon the second planet in that system, Vatar.  Our purpose is to ensure the Batarian military forces based there can't interfere with the attack on Uwan Oche, and to destroy as many of the installations as possible in the time that we have for the attack.”

"Now for the specifics of Senior Intelligent Agent Vasir’s and your participation in this attack,” Commander T’Louck glanced around meaningfully between the four of them before focusing solely upon Lt. Kurin and the two Huntresses sitting along the wall, “and my reason behind informing you three prior to informing the rest of the Fourth.  A few weeks ago we received intelligence that a single unit of human slave troops had recently been added to one of the Batarian garrisons upon Vatar.  We have the location of that garrison,” the Commander focused her gaze upon Lt. Kurin, “as the main force begins their attack on the base your troop, along with the rest of your company under Captain Kaeras will infiltrate and find that human slave unit and then target the Batarians overseeing them." 

The Commander shifted her attention to Vasir, "That should give you the opening and time you need to select one of the human's and be ready when the detonation signal is sent to make your attempt at disarming the slave's collar.”  Tela was about to respond when T’Louck’s lips curved upward in a smile that notably didn’t reach her steely grey eyes.  “Please succeed,” the Commander said, her tone light, “I’d like to get my Huntresses all back in one piece instead of being blown to bits by a slave’s collar.”

Despite her friendly tone and the smile on her face, T’Louck’s gaze was serious and held no small amount of threat.  Vasir smiled back at the other matron and in the same tone responded, “I wasn’t planning on failing as I’ll be right there with them.”


	5. Acquiring a Human Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: Again, just a brief note to mention that 29045 is not a Shepard type character.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 4/11/2014

In her assigned place with five slaves to her left and seven slaves in front of her, Slave 29045 knelt motionless, her deep-set, green eyes fixed steadily upon the uniform grey of the metal floor mere inches from her face. She and the other slaves had been woken from their sleep by the Masters angry shouting and ordered to the armory to get their armor. After getting into their armor she and the other animals had been ordered into formation in the common room and then with even more harshness than usual commanded by the Masters to kneel and be still until they were ordered onto transport ships. The fair complexioned female slave knew that she moved or made any sound at all in this space where one could only hear the breathing of her fellow slaves and the footsteps of the overseer Masters watching them, they would notice. Then one of the Master’s or maybe all of them would punish her for being disobedient and she would hurt much more than she did now providing they simply did not chose to kill her. The female slave closed her eyes as she willed herself to remain still and unnoticed and tried to breathe though the throbbing pain of her bruised face, the deep, ache inside, and the sharper, raw pain between her legs.

Only a few hours before, one of the overseer Master’s had taken her to his quarters to pleasure himself with her body. The Master had roughly stripped her of her clothing, pushed her down upon his bed and jerked her legs apart. Then, without any effort to make her moist, he had forcefully pushed inside of her, hurting her enough that she had involuntarily uttered a small scream of pain. That had caused the Master to stop, but only to strike her several times across her face for making the noise, leaving her reeling and dazed from the force of the blows. Then he resumed his thrusting within her, slamming forcefully against her sex and grunting in his pleasure. As the tearing pain within her increased at his actions, it was all that Slave 29045 could do to not make more noise or permit water to escape from her eyes. She was only an animal and it did not matter that she hurt or that he made her bleed, only that the Master took pleasure from her body.

Most of the Masters’ hurt her in some way when they took pleasure from her, but this Master when he sought her out always hurt her more than the others. His male organ was larger than many of the other Masters and always hurt her deep inside when he thrust hard within her, but that was not the main reason he hurt her more than the others. This Master never made any attempt make her wet to ease his entrance, he simply pushed until he was inside her and then began thrusting. Usually he made her bleed and seemed to enjoy the sight of her red blood upon his flaccid male organ after he had taken his pleasure from her.

The sudden blaring of an alarm throughout the building made the female slave jerk in surprise at the loud noise, and then the Masters began yelling at them both to get up and to stay down. Slave 29045 glanced up in rising fear at the conflicting commands, not knowing which to follow in order to not be punished. 

“Silence,” the same overseer Master who had so painfully taken pleasure from her hours ago bellowed causing the other Master’s to stop shouting their contradictory orders the slaves. “Slaves stay down and do not move,” he commanded and then addressed the other Masters, “You two go prepare weapons for the slaves from the Armory.”

In the silence that fell after the overseer Master’s orders, the sound of an explosion somewhere else in the complex and then the noise of distant weapon’s fire could be heard clearly. Slave 29045’s forest green eyes widened in disbelief, they were under attack…someone was attacking the Masters. The very thought made the female slave even more fearful than before, as if the Masters might see her thoughts and punish her for them. Yet the ongoing sounds of battle could not be mistaken nor could they be ignored, not when more explosions caused the floor she was kneeling upon to shake beneath her.

“Move, before they overrun us,” the shouted command started both the slaves and the other Masters into movement. "I told you not to move," the overseer Master's next words came out in a snarl and then there was the single sound of a shot which echoed loudly in the room. "If any slave moves before being specifically ordered to, they will die," the overseer Master's voice was cold and hard. "That means that you stupid animals should hear the word slave beginning the order."

Slave 29045 froze her head down, and her eyes fixed upon the metal floor as several of the Master’s left the room at a run. She scarcely dared to even breathe in an effort not to attract the one overseer Master's attention to herself. The female slave soldier still hurt, but her current fear dulled the pain and made it easier to remain still, small and silent. She had no doubt that this Master would kill her if she moved and she did not want to die.

The female slave soldier had no idea how long she had knelt in place with the other slaves as the sounds of battle grew around them before they were given a clear order to rise and follow the Masters to the nearby Armory. Once they arrived the slaves were ordered to line up against both walls of the hallway, leaving the center clear for the Masters to move between them. As none of the humans wanted to be the foolish slave who drew the ire of a Master for making the Master have to brush against them, they pressed themselves as close as possible to the wall and slid down it as they moved forward to receive their weapons. While they were waiting, the slaves were informed whom they would be facing in battle. Asari, it was the Asari who were attacking the Masters and the Masters were so angry that they ordered the slaves to take any of the blue skinned soldiers alive that they could so the Masters could punish them for this attack.

Slave 29045 was somewhere near the end of the line pressed up against the right wall and had yet to receive her weapon when suddenly the battle, which had raged around them, abruptly found them. The hurried, but orderly, handing out of weapons descended into chaos as they came under fire. The female slave dropped to the floor, crouching down and attempting to present as little of a silhouette to draw the enemy’s fire to her as possible. The sound of weapon's fire was loud in the hallway, echoing down it from the fighting just ahead of the weaponless group of slaves. 29045 glanced around, both forward and behind her, looking for a Master to tell her what to do, but there was no Master near her only other slave soldiers looking just as confused and frightened as she at the unexpected attack. 

Finally one of the other slave soldiers, a male, Slave 29078 began creeping up the hallway towards the fighting and towards the Armory. 29045 stared after him for a moment and then followed along with several other slaves. She knew, as did the others, that if they did not fight the attacking asari then they would be killed after the battle by the Masters. To fight, they needed weapons from the Armory. The Masters would be angry that the slaves had taken the weapons themselves, but the Masters would be less angry than if they slaves did nothing while the Masters were under attack.

Crouched down and crawling upon her hands and knees, the female slave did her best to stay low and close to the wall. She could hear the sound of rounds passing above her in the hallway and a quick glance behind her confirmed that the thick metal wall at the end of the hallway was marred and even pockmarked in spots from the steady stream of sand-grain sized rounds hitting it. Slave 29045 looked forward again in time to see one of her fellow unarmed slave soldiers jerk when a stray round hit him, make the mistake of rising, and then jerk several times as he made himself a clear target before slumping to lie still upon the floor. The nearby slaves halted and tried to make themselves even smaller against the floor. After a few seconds, the ones closest to the dead slave shoved his body toward the center of the hallway and the group continued their procession forward.

The farther they proceeded up the hallway the closer the group of slaves came to the battle taking place just past and around the doorway of the Armory. Looking ahead Slave 29045 could see the slaves who had received their weapons crouching in the hallway and firing up it toward the far end where the asari soldiers were taking shelter in a cross hallway. The bodies of the dead laid where they had fallen with growing puddles of red and orange...the female slave's green eyes widened as she realized that the still body she was looking at was that of a Master's. She looked up searching amongst the forms of those fighting near her for the distinct armor of the Masters. To her relief, the slave saw that at least three of the overseer Masters were still alive and directing the slaves who were armed and fighting as well as fighting themselves. Taking in the number of bodies upon the floor and the number of remaining slave soldiers fighting, 29045 realized with shock that she and her fellow slaves appeared to be losing this battle to the asari. They were failing the Masters...even if they managed to regain the offensive and defeat the asari, the slave realized fearfully, she and the other slaves would be severely punished for each Master that had been allowed to die.

Slave 29078 reached the doorway of the Armory and slipped in between the two slave soldiers who had taken cover in the doorway. Moments later he appeared again and began handing weapons out to the other slaves who needed them. Meanwhile the female slave soldier crawled up behind the male slave in front of her and took a moment to lean against the wall and rest. She pressed a hand against her abdomen and quietly whimpered at the deep pain there and between her legs and the throbbing ache in her face. The tense, crawling advance up the hallway had made her more not less aware of how much she hurt even with what was going on around her. With one last press of her hand and a weary sounding breath 29045 forced herself to refocus on what was happening ahead of her. She was only a slave and a slave’s pain did not matter; only the orders of the Masters mattered to a slave.

The male slave in front of her moved forward a few feet as those in front of him received weapons and stepped over their dead to take up positions with the other armed slaves. Noticing this, the female slave pushed herself away from the wall and began to crawl forward again, keeping as low to the floor as possible. She was still crawling when she felt a strong rhythmic vibration though the metal floor beneath her and had just had time to look up as those in front of her cried out in alarm at the shimmering wave of bluish-white energy coming toward them. 29045 along with the other slaves and even the Masters in the hallway were picked up by the biotic attack and thrown backward several feet. The female slave bounced off the wall and then fell to the floor just in time for a second wave to pick her up once again and forcefully toss her several feet farther down the hallway.

This time Slave 29045 landed sprawled upon her hands and knees, the effect of the biotic energy wave still propelling her forward and down onto the metal floor like some giant hand pressing upon her back. The two attacks and aftermath of them had happened so quickly that the female slave soldier barely had time to be aware of what was going on and attempt to brace herself against the force pressing down on her. Her attempt was immediately cut short however when sudden, sharp pains in her lower groin caused her resistance to buckle and collapse. Her entire body was instantly forced toward the floor. Her arms collapsed first and then her legs gave way, which meant that her helmeted head slammed first into the hard surface of the floor. The female slave screamed in pain as the energy pushing her body down flat against the floor wrenched her legs apart and then the biotic energy was gone leaving 29045 lying upon floor shaking. It was all that she could do to not waste water from her eyes at the amount of pain she was experiencing. Even wearing her helmet, the impact of her head slamming face forward against the floor made her bruised face explode into pain as if she had been freshly struck across it and between her legs it felt as if she had newly been torn open.

Once the immediacy of the pain had subsided enough for 29045 to refocus on the world around her, the slave cautiously lifted her head and looked around to determine her situation. The asari's biotic attacks had been very effective, leaving the slaves' defense in complete disarray. As the slaves and Masters rose from wherever they had been tossed by the successive biotic waves, they became easy targets for the attacking asari. Even as she looked up the hallway toward the battle, 29045 saw two of her fellow slaves become casualty’s moments after rising from where they had landed in the middle of the hallway. 

Warned by their deaths, the female slave soldier did not attempt to rise to her hands and knees from where she lay in the hallway, but began crawling upon her stomach toward the wall on the same side of the hallway as the doorway to the Armory. If she could get there, she could not only arm herself, but also take cover within the doorway and duck inside to escape the asari’s biotic attacks. She had made it only half of the way to her goal when she had to stop to rest and breathe against the pain in her face and groin. Crawling was safer, but it was also very painful with her newly re-aggravated injuries. Also, there had been a faintly slick sensation between her legs as she made her slow way up the hallway which made her think that she was bleeding again. Mindful of the battle around her, the female slave took only a few seconds to rest before she determinedly looked up the hallway, no matter how much she hurt she would not stop again until she was in the Armory. 

In the next instant Slave 29045 green eyes widened in dismay as she saw the sphere of intense indigo and white energy float down the hallway toward where the slaves had reformed under the command of the few remaining overseer Masters. The Masters immediately called a retreat as they turned and scrambled away from the rapidly approaching globe of biotic energy, but several of the slaves who were farther forward and thus nearer the asari did not have time to move before they were lifted into the air and pulled into the glowing sphere where they began to scream in what seemed to be agonizing pain. A second later, another faster moving and slightly different looking globe of energy sailed down the hallway toward the first sphere.

When the two met...the female slave heard and saw the explosion and then she was thrown forcefully backward into the wall behind her. It took 29045 a moment to gasp in a breath from when it had left her in a forced exhale when she slammed against the wall. She turned to look in the direction of the explosion and stared in horror at the scene before her, her already pale complexion paling even further. The Masters had told them that the asari's biotics were dangerous, but she had never fought against them before today so she had not realized exactly how dangerous. The explosion had literally torn the slaves trapped inside it apart. Red blood covered the walls, floor, and even patches of the ceiling. Pieces of armor and body parts littered the hallway.

Movement further up the hallway broke the female slave's fixed stare upon the carnage wrought by the asari's attack and her eyes widened in dismay and fear. The asari soldiers were advancing swiftly toward the few human slaves and overseer Master's that remained alive. Slave 29045 glanced frantically around her, looking for any weapon that she could use so that she could at least fight back against the asari who were about to kill her. There…her gaze focused upon an assault rifle lying several feet in front of her and on the other side of the hallway. It really wasn’t very close, but reaching it was the only option the slave had if she wanted to be able to fight back against the asari before they killed her.

Gritting her teeth against the pain in her groin as she pushed herself up from the floor, Slave 29045 ignored the approaching asari soldiers. She was going to die anyway, so it mattered only a little to her whether they killed her now or after she reached the weapon. To the slave's confusion, although she heard them call out to one another in their strange lilting language, the asari soldiers did not fire on her as she rose to her feet. They did not even fire on her as she crossed the hallway with one hand pressed against the armor covering her lower abdomen. It wasn't until she was almost close enough to reach down for the rifle that the asari reacted, the nearest one coming alight with bluish-white energy and gesturing toward her. In the next moment the female slave found herself wrapped in that energy and floating helplessly in the air, the assault rifle still upon the floor and now completely out of reach.

Slave 29045 tried to reach for the weapon anyway even though it was clearly too far away, needing the Masters to know that she was trying to be obedient even now. Her effort however, only set her spinning in mid-air, adding to the dizziness and disorientation she was already feeling from the weightlessness. The leading asari, the same one who had trapped 29045 with her biotics, halted as she came up to the human. Even though 29045 was suspended several feet from the floor, the alien female was tall enough that she still looked down the floating human. The asari stared at the slowly spinning slave for a second or two, and then reached out and grabbed the human's arm just long enough to halt her spin before releasing the slave. 

Now that she was no longer spinning around in the air, 29045 stared up at the asari animal that had captured her with as much defiance as she could muster through her fear. Through the clear faceplate of the asari’s helmet she could see light grayish-blue skin, reddish facial markings, and stern, pale blue eyes. The slave expected her challenging stare to provoke anger and maybe retaliation, instead the asari's brows rose as the alien female stared at her thoughtfully before she turned away to briefly speak to the soldiers following her. The asari then proceeded past the suspended slave and was followed by the remainder of the asari soldiers who passed swiftly by with barely a glance in the slave's direction. Not all of the asari soldiers left however, the slave noticed when two of them did not move but remained near her.

29045 was left feeling confused by the asari's reaction to her anger and more confused as to why the two asari appeared to be waiting instead of just killing her and then the biotic field holding her aloft dissipated, abruptly releasing her. The slave fell to the floor, an involuntary cry of pain escaping her at the jarring impact. Before she could think to move, the waiting asari soldiers grabbed her arms and twisted them behind her back, quickly fastening her wrists together with a pair of restraints. Next they reached under her arms, lifted her slightly, and then laid her down upon the floor on her stomach.

They were taking her prisoner instead of killing her, Slave 29045 realized with surprise and confusion. That was why they had been waiting. Surely the other animals knew about the tracking collars around their necks? As soon as the Masters realized they had been defeated, they would activate them and then she and the other slaves would die. To her further surprise the two asari remained near her instead of leaving to help the other asari soldiers. One kneeled beside her, an orange glowing device springing into existence upon the asari’s wrist (the same type the slave had seen used before by the Masters), and began scanning her body with it.

The sound of armored feet striding at a hurried sounding pace down the hallway broke though the slave's confusion at the behavior of the asari and roused her curiosity enough for her to lift her head and look cautiously toward the source of the sound. Three asari were rapidly approaching, one leading and two following carrying cases. The asari in the lead was wearing darker colored brown armor than the other asari soldiers. 29045 didn't know what that meant, if anything, but it was enough to make her wary. The female slave didn't want to compare these animals to the Masters in any manner, but with the Masters unique armor usually meant that the Master in question was of higher rank.

To 29045's dismay the three asari stopped when they neared her and the one in the lead wearing the dark armor began speaking with the two asari who had taken her prisoner. If it weren't for the fact that animals who dared to speak were punished until they died, 29045 might have enjoyed the flowing sound of their language even though she had no idea what they were saying to one another. The slave couldn't relax however; she could hear the other animals speaking and do nothing to stop them. 

The almost crushing sensation of dread in her chest was steadily growing at the thoughts of what the Master's would do to her, how they might punish her for every disobedience - losing the battle, permitting Masters to be killed, letting herself get captured, permitting other animals to speak...the list of serious infractions against the Master’s rules just kept growing. If the Masters did not kill the slaves by activating their tracking collars, but instead chose to attack, then the slave knew that the Masters would later kill her and the few other slaves along with all of the asari they captured. The Masters would probably choose the striking and kicking death - the one where the other slaves could hear the bones breaking, the screaming, the blood, the eventual silence. 29045 did not want to die that way, the thought of it made her feel weak and her body shake.

"Release me animals," the angry shout in Batarian immediately tore Slave 29045 from her horror filled thoughts of various painful deaths. One of the overseer Master's was still alive, the female slave realized as she craned her head around as much as possible in her prone position so that she could see him. At first she could not see the Master's features because the asari holding him captive were standing in the way, only that he was wearing the distinctive brown and black armor of an overseer Master. Then, as the asari in dark armor finished her conversation with 29045's guards and moved farther down the hallway past the asari soldiers guarding the Master, one of them moved enough for 29045 to see the Master's face through his helmet.

The female slave flinched, her body instinctively trying to curl up inwardly to protect herself and looked down at the floor once again, only letting her eyes turn toward the Master to watch him. She did not want to draw this overseer Master's attention for he was the same one who had taken his pleasure from her body the night before. Though the slave's attention was primarily focused on the Master, she noticed that the asari in the dark armor, who had stopped to speak with another pair of asari guarding a male slave, had noticed her reaction and was now glancing back and forth between her and the Master from further down the hallway. She didn't know why the asari was interested, but she wished that the asari animal would stop before the alien drew the Master's attention to her.

"You suffer for this attack, we will burn your worlds, slaughter those who oppose us and enslave your children. The Hegemony will not be..." his words where abruptly cut off as one of the asari guarding him slammed her glowing fist into his stomach, causing him to double over and gasp at the force of the blow despite the fact that he was wearing armor.

"You will do nothing but be silent," the asari soldier who had struck him said in perfect Batarian.

Though she rarely made any noise, Slave 29045 made a small sound of shock and stared at the floor, keeping very still and trying to make herself small and unnoticeable as was her habit when the Masters were angry. It didn't matter that the asari seemed to have won; she was certain that somehow, sometime very soon these asari animals would all be brutally killed for that one striking a Master and because she had witnessed their action and had not stopped it she would be punished for it with them. The slave couldn't even imagine what the Master's would decide was an appropriate punishment for striking a Master. The only thing the slave was certain of was that it would be terrible and the Masters would draw out their pain for as long as possible before allowing them to die.

As a young child, merely witnessing the deaths and harsh treatment the other children were subjected to for any hint of disobedience was enough to persuade Slave 29045 to be silent and obedient to the Masters. It did not take the child slave long to not only accept, but also fully internalize, that she was just an animal and that her proper place was to serve the Masters. Her submission to the Masters saved her from some of their harsher punishments. Despite her best efforts to remain beneath the Masters' notice however, her submissiveness and her pleasing appearance drew the Master's interest for other reasons and only resulted in a different type of punishment.

As she lay helpless on the metal floor, Slave 29045’s thoughts chased each other around in a vicious downward spiral of dread and fear. She had always tried to obey the Masters, but in this battle she had repeatedly failed to follow the Masters’ orders and now she would be punished. There would be the kicking and the pain and the blood - the slave's thoughts chased each other around in a frightened circle, each round her mind reminding her of past memories of other disobedient slave's deaths and terrifying her even more. 

So caught up was the female slave in her own fears as she stared fixedly at the metal floor inches away from her face that she failed to notice the asari in the dark armor return, stare down at her for a brief moment and then and motion to the two soldiers standing guarding her. Slave 29045 didn’t snap out of the frantic circling of her terror-filled thoughts until the two asari soldiers reached under her arms and lifted her from the floor. Then she finally focused upon what was happening around her and the asari wearing the darker armor standing in front of her. All three of the asari surrounding the female human were at least a foot taller than their captive, making the slave in their center acutely aware of how physically outmatched she was by these other alien animals that towered over her.

The female slave looked up at the asari in dark armor standing in front of her. Through the faceplate of the asari’s helmet the female slave could see light blue skin, and extensive dark purple markings around the asari’s brown eyes, the upper of which almost looked like drawn human eyebrows. The asari’s dispassionate, evaluating gaze reminded the female slave of the way the Master’s stared at her and instinctively she dropped her own gaze down and to the side. Her breathing grew shallow and more rapid as her fear grew underneath the alien female's gaze and the sense of the asari looming over her. She wished that they would put her on the floor again and leave her alone, that they would leave her to her death when her slave collar activated.

Contrary to her wishes, the alien female reached out and unsnapped the seals of the slave’s helmet, twisted it, and then removed it revealing the slave’s shaved head and bare neck with the slave tracking collar around it. “Bruising?,” the asari asked in Batarian as she reached up and with unexpected gentleness touched the reddish swollen areas with their beginning display of dark purple mottling upon the female slaves face with her gauntlet covered fingers.

“Yes, Senior Agent Vasir,” one of the asari soldiers guarding the slave responded also in Batarian. “From our readings it’s still developing indicating that they were inflicted only a few hours ago,” the blue skinned alien female paused for a moment and then added, “at the same time as she received her other injuries.”

“Someone hit you across the face several times,” the asari in dark armor commented to the slave, “and then raped you.”

It was still wrong for animals to speak, however at the asari’s statement 29045 couldn’t help but reflexively glance toward the overseer Master. The Masters couldn’t rape a slave however; they had the right to seek pleasure from a slave’s body.

The asari’s gaze flickered briefly in that direction as well before refocusing upon the slave. “Interesting,” the asari stated, her tone thoughtful, and then turned her attention to the two asari holding the female slave. “Take her to the Armory,” she ordered them and then switched smoothly back to her own language as she turned to speak to the two asari with the cases who had been following her.

29045 started in confusion at the asari’s words, craning her head around to see if they were moving the other slaves as well. Upon seeing that she was the only one, human female planted her feet against the floor tried to resist, afraid of the alien animals intent in separating her from the other slaves. In response, the much taller asari soldiers simply lifted 29045 higher so that her feet kicked fruitlessly in the air and continued carrying her toward the nearby Armory.

Behind her she heard the voice of the asari in dark armor, the one the others had named Senior Agent Vasir, speak once again in Batarian, "Take the batarian animal farther up the hallway. I want him kept alive for now.”

Batarian animal…the slave's mind seemed to freeze for a second, unable to initially even conceptualize those two words together. When she did, the slave was thoroughly shocked at the asari animal's rebelliousness. No wonder the Masters had decided that the Asari were to be the next race they subjugated and taught their proper place - to serve the Hegemony. Slave 29045 struggled harder against the asari carrying her as the overseer Master viciously swore at the asari soldiers and renewed his threats against them. Without being able to touch the floor however, the slave could only twist ineffectually in their grip as they carried her past the carnage wrought earlier with their biotics, and then into the Armory - the very place the slave had been trying to reach before her capture.


	6. Acquiring a Human Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: None
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 6/4/2014

Why had the asari in dark armor ordered that she be separated from the others? Slave 29045's anxiety-filled thoughts circled around that question as she was carried helpless, bound - and quite literally dangling with her feet inches from the floor - between two tall asari soldiers. It did not take the two aliens long to reach the Armory, a long room filled with tables, stacked metal crates, and both upper and lower racks for storing weapons of various types. This was where she and the other slaves had been trying to reach, thought the slave as she looked at the empty open crates and mostly empty racks. From what she could see, 29045 noted with dismay, it did not appear as if there had been enough weapons left in the Armory to arm all of the slave troops even if they had been able to reach the room before being attacked by the asari soldiers.

The two asari took her all the way back to the far end of the room before finally lowering her to the floor so that she could stand once again. Though 29045 was expecting them to, her asari guards did not make her lie upon the floor as before, but let her remain standing. However, they did keep firm hold of her restrained arms in a manner which convinced the slave they would not let her move from where they had placed her.

Two more asari soldiers carrying cases entered the Armory and the slave realized that they were the two who had been following the asari in dark armor. They made their way through the weapon racks toward where the slave and her guards were standing and then stopped and placed the cases they were carrying upon a nearby long, rectangular table usually used for disassembling and cleaning weapons. As the female slave watched curiously, the two asari opened the cases and began to quickly take out the items within them, giving the female human the impression that they were rushing to complete whatever task the asari in dark armor had given them. Slave 29045 had no idea what the items were they were placing upon the table, even though she could clearly see them from where she was standing only a few feet away. 

One of the two asari picked up one of the items, a rectangular device as long as the slaves longest finger and as wide as two fingers, and came toward the slave and the two asari guarding her. Through the clear faceplate of the asari's helmet the slave saw a youthful looking face with light blue skin and eyes so blue they almost looked unreal to the human female. Around the asari's deep blue eyes were darker blue mask-like markings and two thin black lines almost in the same place as the slave's eyebrows. Seeing them made the slave want to reach up and touch the line of short, light brown hairs above her own eyes, but her arms were fastened behind her back. The asari reached forward toward the slave's neck with the device she held in her hand. The movement frightened the slave and instinctively she jerked her head back in alarm causing the two asari guarding her to tighten their grip upon her arms.

The youthful looking asari halted her motion. "This will not hurt you. I am only going to fasten it to the tracking collar around your neck," the asari said in Batarian, her tone reassuring. The asari didn't wait for long before reaching forward again, though more slowly this time, toward the slave's neck.

The tight grip the two asari soldiers holding her captive had on her bound arms silently informed the slave that she would not be allowed to resist a second time. Lowering her gaze 29045 held still as the asari reached toward her neck and in the next second she heard and felt the device click against the collar. When the asari withdrew with her hands empty 29045 could feel the extra weight of the device upon the front of the collar around her neck causing the collar's lower metal-rimmed edge to press uncomfortably against her throat. The youngish looking asari returned to the table and began to assist the other asari with her in building two larger devices from the smaller pieces they had laid out. Though 29045's head was bowed and her gaze apparently on the floor, she looked up with only her eyes and watched them with wary curiosity. The two asari worked quickly, their hands moving with swift grace as they pieced together what began to resemble two data entry devices in mere seconds. 

The asari in dark armor, who the slave now knew from the conversation in the hallway was indeed of higher rank than the other asari soldiers and was named Senior Agent Vasir, entered the Armory just as they were finishing and made her way toward the two asari. She had just begun speaking to them in their own fluid sounding language when one of the asari, 29045 thought it was the youthful looking one who had placed the device on her tracking collar, made a sound of alarm and spoke in a rapid, tense tone. Whatever she said caused every asari in the room to whip their heads around and look at 29045 just a fraction of a second before the tracking collar around the human slave's neck began beeping a warning indicating that the countdown to its detonation had just begun.

The female slave closed her eyes, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief that the Masters had decided to activate she and her fellow slave's collars instead of re-capturing them from the asari. She needed fear no slow painful death - no stamping and kicking and red blood and the Master's guttural sounding laughter at their pain - just the countdown and then a quick end. The sensation of being lifted off her feet and then lowered brought the slave out of her thoughts and she opened her eyes just in time to realize that the asari assigned to guard her were laying her on the floor. As soon as she was prone upon her stomach, they headed toward the Armory door with long, swift strides. 

Only those two asari soldiers left however, causing the slave to crane her head around to observe the three asari remaining in the Armory with her, bewildered as to why they had not left as well. The asari in dark armor and the asari who had placed the device around the collar on her neck hovered over the recently put together consoles, their fingers flying over the haptic interfaces as they spoke in terse, quick tones with one another in their alien language. The third asari stood near them watching what they were doing intently. As the beeping around her neck continued its warning alarm in closer and closer together intervals, the slave watched in confusion, still not understanding what the asari were doing, why they had brought her into to this room, and why they remained with her and the armed and alarming tracking collar around her neck. If they did not leave soon, they would surely be injured when it exploded.

At that moment the third asari, the only one who had not spoken to or interacted in some way with 29045 glanced over toward the slave, her dark brown eyes immediately focusing upon the paler hued green eyes of the human slave. There was confidence and boldness in the asari's dark eyes despite what was going on and 29045 looked away after a few seconds, dropping her gaze to the floor in wary reaction to what she saw in those dark eyes. The female slave did not understand why the asari was not concerned at their proximity to her and the tracking collar around her neck.

The interval between each alarming of the tracking collar around the female slave's neck continued to grow shorter and shorter as the seconds passed indicating that it would not be much longer before it activated, exploded, and ended 29045's life. The steadily closer and closer together beeping noise was the only sound in the armory aside from the quieter sound of the asari as they quietly talked to one another or shifted upon their feet for their fingers upon the haptic keyboard interface of the devices they had built made no noise.

The interval between the alert sounds of the slave's collar was very brief now, indicating that its warning countdown was almost complete. 29045 closed her eyes, thinking of the grey place, the place of nothingness the Masters had told them all slaves went to when they died. There they would await rebirth and another life of serving the Masters. The female slave hoped that she would be in that grey place for a long time. To be alone in a grey nothingness sounded very welcoming to her. A place to rest without fear falling under the notice of a Master and his or her resulting displeasure and punishment.

An exclamation of what sounded like triumph from one of the asari caused the female slave to open her eyes and look toward the three asari once again. To 29045's relief the third one was not staring at her anymore, instead all three asari's attention seemed to be focused upon the console upon which the asari in dark armor, Senior Agent Vasir, was working. The short sharp tones from the slave's tracking collar were almost one continuous tone now, and 29045 knew that it would only be seconds before her life ended. Still though, to her ongoing confusion, the three asari did not attempt to leave or even put more distance between themselves and her. 

The almost now continuous tone from the female slave's collar abruptly ceased, making 29045 believe for a moment that the Master's had changed their minds, but then she heard from out in the hallway the warning tones of the other slave's tracking collars. She hadn't noticed the noise before now over the sound of her own collar. Puzzled, the slave turned her head in rapidly growing alarm to look in that direction. No sooner had 29045 managed to turn her head enough to look toward the doorway of the Armory however when the warning tones of the tracking collars became one long continuous tone. A fraction of a second later every slave collar, both those the asari had taken captive and those they had killed during the earlier battle, except for 29045’s activated causing a deafening explosion which shook the entire building around them.

Lying upon the floor, her mind dazed and her ears ringing from sheer volume of noise to which they had just been subjected, it took 29045 several seconds to realize that she was not dead along with the others but still alive. Somehow the asari had prevented her tracking collar from exploding, the human slave realized. That had been the purpose of the device the younger asari had attached to her collar and why the three asari had remained in the Armory with her. 

The human female’s thoughts turned back to grisly fate of her fellow slaves in the hallway. They were all dead - all except for her, the bleak realization grew 29045’s mind. Fear, despair, and grief, sharp and cutting, rose in the slave's chest and before she could control herself she made a single keening sound of loss before choking her breath back in her throat. Her ears still ringing, she turned her head back around to stare at the three tall and imposing looking alien animals with wide, fear-filled eyes. Why had they done this? Why had they singled her out from the other slaves and what were they going to do to her now?

The three asari stared back at her and for a long moment there was a fragile silence between the lone human and trio of asari. Senior Agent Vasir was the first to break it, first speaking briefly to the other two asari in their own language before stepping away from both them and the table where they had been working. She then touched something upon her forearm which activated an orange toned haptic interface, tapped at a few keys as the human slave watched, then began speaking even as she moved to the far side of the room, apparently seeking some privacy for her conversation. In the meantime, the two younger asari began dismantling the two devices they had so hurriedly put together earlier and repacking the pieces into the cases they had brought with them. A few minutes later Senior Agent Vasir stopped speaking to whomever she had contacted and deactivated the device. The asari then walked over to where 29045 was lying upon the floor, her hands still bound behind her back, and stopped near the prone human.

"So, you are my human now," Senior Agent Vasir said in Batarian, her tone thoughtful as she stared down at the female slave. She paused for a brief moment and then added in a softer tone, "I am sorry that we were not able to save the other slaves. They are in the light now and at peace."

The asari's words both angered and confused 29045. The other slaves were in the grey place, not a light place, though she did hope that they were at peace. As to what the asari in dark armor had declared before that, the human female rolled onto her side and stared as defiantly back as she could manage at the moment. She was angry that the other animal believed that she could own her, but she was also fearful of the other animal's reaction to her defiance. Senior Agent Vasir was both taller and stronger than 29045. As if that wasn't enough, the other animal also had the almost magical seeming ability of biotics. Earlier in the hallway 29045 had discovered firsthand the devastating effects of the biotic abilities of the asari. The human slave had no illusions about her ability to protect herself from the other animal if the asari in dark armor sought to punish her for her defiance, she would not be able to stop the blue alien.

As if the alien were reading the very thoughts within 29045's head, the blue skinned alien's brown eyes narrowed upon her, "You are thinking that I am just another animal aren't you?" The asari commented her tone harsher than before. "That's not surprising considering what the Batarians have told you, but it's also not true. The Asari are not just another animal, something which you will have demonstrated to you very soon."

The asari in dark armor was going to punish her for her defiance, 29045 realized with growing dismay, trying to prepare herself as best she could for whatever the asari was about to do to her. She was very aware though that with her hands bound behind her back there was little she could do to protect herself from the other animal's aggression. The asari in dark armor did not immediately lash out at her however; instead the blue skinned alien looked toward the doorway of the Armor as if waiting for someone else to arrive.

Warily, with most of her attention still focused upon the tall asari standing over her, 29045 glanced that way as well wondering who or what the asari animal was waiting for before punishing her. Several seconds later the human slave believed she knew who when another asari in regular soldier armor, this one with dark purple skin of a hue the human slave knew was considered rare and desirable by the Masters, came though the doorway, paused for a moment to meet Senior Agent Vasir's gaze and then nodded to her. Now, they were going to punish her now, 29045 thought, tensing up with fear at what was to come.

"Bring the disobedient animal in, Commander T'Louck," Senior Agent Vasir said to other asari surprising and confusing 29045. She thought that no other slave had survived the activation of their tracking collar. Then it became all too horribly clear to the human slave to whom they were referring when the Overseer Master who had hurt her and whom the asari had captured came crawling through the doorway upon his hands and knees. "Is this animal ready to apologize to us for his people's rebelliousness and disobedience against the Asari people?" the asari in dark armor asked once the Overseer Master crawled in front of her and halted still upon his hands and knees.

29045 stared in disbelief at the scene in front of her, her mind trying to disbelieve it though it was clearly happening. The Master did not appear to be injured, he was not bleeding or bruised that she could see and yet he was kneeling before these asari. Kneeling as a slave would kneel.

The purple hued asari strode over to the kneeling Master and placed a hand upon his head. "He is ready to admit the truth," the asari replied tilting her head to look directly down at the Master so that the human slave could no longer see her face through the helmet she wore except in slight profile.

Senior Agent Vasir nodded to her in response and then returned her attention to the kneeling Overseer Master. “What are you to the Asari, batarian?”

“We are animals before you Master,” he replied to her.

With those words everything 29045 thought she understood about the universe shattered into incomprehensibility.

“You are rebellious and disobedient animals,” the asari in dark armor responded sharply.

“Yes Master,” he replied crouching even lower. Through her bewilderment and confusion, the human slave thought it odd that the one asari, Commander T’Louck, kept her hand upon the Overseer Master’s head, but then decided that they were merely ensuring that he did not try and escape or attack them.

The asari in dark armor turned away from him to look over at the human slave before she continued speaking, "Worse you have spread your disobedience to other species, making them believe that you are more than just animals." She returned her attention the crouching batarian and glared down at him, "Persuading them that your place in the galaxy is above that of the Asari."

At this point 29045 had pressed her body as close as she could against the floor and remained as still and silent as possible. She stared wide eyed at what was taking place in front of her, her thoughts and emotions a veritable storm of bewilderment and fear. One thing was becoming very clear to her though, these Asari were not other animals...far from it...they were the Masters' of the Masters' and she had fought against them - been rebellious and defiant before them.

“Yes Master,” the batarian responded to her, “We hid the humans from you. We made them believe that we were Masters over you and forced them to be rebellious against you.”

There was a brief pause during which 29045 shifted her gaze between the Overseer Master and the two asari not understanding why it was occurring. Then Vasir finally responded, "I see, then you are responsible for this human's rebelliousness and defiance against us...at least up until now."

“I am Master,” the batarian admitted his voice weaker sounding than before to the listening human’s ears.

Senior Agent Vasir paced over to stand before 29045, "I trust that this will be the end of your defiance human?"

The human female barked out a fearful sounding affirmative noise; relieved beyond measure that she not only was she not going to be killed for attacking the asari Masters, but also apparently not punished for defying this asari Master.

"I'll take that as a yes Master until you learn to speak a proper language to tell me,” the asari in dark armor responded confusing the human slave even further at the implication that her new asari Master expected her to speak. Confirming that impression, Senior Agent Vasir continued, “Unlike this batarian I'm not threatened by your species ability to talk, it does not change your proper place in relation to the Asari.”

Without waiting for any type of response the asari Master turned back to the batarian, “So Batarian animal, what is the appropriate punishment for your actions against the Asari people?”

“Death Master,” the batarian responded, his voice scarcely loud enough for the slave to hear.

“That is correct.” That was all the warning the asari Master in dark armor gave before her body lit up with a blue corona and then she slammed one glowing fist down upon the batarian’s unprotected head as the purple hued asari Master lifted her hand from his head and stepped away from him. The Overseer Master's body slumped down upon the floor, his orange blood spilling across the grey metal floor from where his head was half-caved in from the asari Master’s blow.

“So I say again,” the asari Master in dark armor spoke as she came to stand before the female slave, “you are my human now.”

29045, her gaze fixed firmly upon the floor in submission the human female made a sharp affirmative sound of acknowledgement and agreement with her new asari Master

To her surprise the asari in dark armor knelt, reached out to cup her chin in one hand and lifted her face. Fearful of what was about to happen, that she had somehow displeased her new Master and was about to be punished for it, the human kept her green eyed gaze upon the floor even as the asari looked down into her face. "That is a much better response than before human."


	7. Spoils of War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: None
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 8/15/2014

Tela's head snapped up, her attention shifting abruptly from the mission report displayed on the holographic screen of her omni-tool to where Commander T'Louck was seated across from her and three seats further toward the cockpit of the transport shuttle. Her sharply questioning, and somewhat disbelieving, gaze was met with the curving of T’Louck’s dark purple lips into a smug smirk as the other matron inclined her head in affirmation. Vasir frowned ever so slightly at the other asari’s behavior, but otherwise didn’t react to it; the Commander of the Fourth Rapid Reaction Force had every reason to congratulate herself given the contents of this report.

The successful capture of a high-caste batarian officer, Captain Cothar Daf’feer, during the mission had been an unexpected, but fortuitous, turn of events as the huntresses and commandoes had been focused on capturing as many human slaves as possible instead of their batarian masters. Without him and without Commander T'Louck's willingness and ability to force his dying body to act out their deception on the female slave after stripping his mind of any useful information, the intelligence agent would still be dealing with a hostile and unwilling human instead of a meek and compliant one. The scene that they had orchestrated for the human female had been a bit more dramatic than Vasir had originally envisioned, but Commander T'Louck had insisted that it would be more persuasive and Tela couldn't argue with the results as the former slave was now thoroughly convinced that the Asari were more powerful than the Batarians. Fortunately Daf’feer’s body had remained alive just long enough for them to complete their impromptu play, ending their ruse with the supposed execution of the slave Overseer to hide the fact that he was seconds from dying anyway. Tela didn't envy T'Louck the task of staying in the batarian's dying body until the last possible moment; a past mission had required the intelligence agent to do the same, though the circumstances hadn't been similar, and it hadn't been a pleasant experience.

Vasir had hoped that the purple hued matron had gleaned something useful from her search of the captured enemy officer’s mind, but she hadn’t expected the wealth of information that T’Louck had gained from her forcible reading of the slave Overseer’s memories. Born into the Noble Caste, the highest ranked caste in the Batarian caste system, Captain Cothar Daf’feer had been well-connected within the upper levels of the Hegemony military and government. Well enough connected and just high enough ranked as an officer that he had not only known the location of the Human's home world, which was unfortunately located deep in Batarian controlled space two relay jumps past the Exodus Cluster mass relay, but had even visited the planet a few times to collect human children to be trained as slave soldiers. That was not all that the high-caste slave Overseer had known however, and the other classified information he had been privy to concerning the Hegemonies activities and plans regarding the humans eclipsed the reveal of the location of their home world.

Located within the Hegemony controlled Omega Station, a partially mined out eezo rich asteroid located in the same system as the Omega Nebula's mass relay, were several slave holding areas and labs where the Batarian’s carried out various research projects and experimentation on their captive humans. Captain Daf’feer knew limited details about only of two of the research projects the Hegemony was conducting there, but what he was aware of was disturbing enough for Senior Agent Vasir to flag the Commander’s intelligence report for immediate notice by Matriarch Sophronia and Matriarch Galene. 

The first of the two research projects the Hegemony was carrying out on the human’s sought to reliably produce biotic capable slave soldiers by exposing pregnant human’s to element zero. The second research project sought a way to mass clone human's to produce large numbers of slave soldiers which were imprinted in their cloning tubes with all the knowledge they needed to be soldiers as well as being thoroughly conditioned to be subservient to the Hegemony. Both projects were apparently successful and close to implementation on a wider scale, or that was what the slave Overseer had been informed. Whether or not that was actually true was impossible to know for certain, for the Hegemonies Department of Information Control did its best to ensure that it's government's failures remained hidden not only from their enemies but their own people as well. Kurnith, the goddess of war and hunting, had certainly favored them on this mission, thought Tela, not only did they now know the location of the human's home world but they had been made aware of a serious new threat to the Republics.

Until the Matriarchs gave new directives to her however, Tela glanced over to her immediate left where the female human they had (depending on one’s perception of the current situation) either saved or taken from the Batarians sat next to her in the transport shuttle, she had the second part of her mission still to fulfill. The Matriarchs still needed to know what level of control the Batarian's had over the Human's population and what defenses they had within the system where their home world was located. T'Louck had obtained some of that information from Captain Daf'feer's mind, but any additional information to fill out their knowledge of the defenses would be welcome. In addition, Tela still needed to find out the most critical piece of information the Matriarchs wanted to know about the Humans - what were they like as a people? Where they inherently aggressive like the Krogan? Duplicitous like the Batarians? Paranoid like the Salarians? Polite like the Hanar? Deliberate and conservative like the Elcor? Essentially, where they potential allies or potential enemies of the Asari Republics?

Since being directed to sit in the seat and strap herself in for transport the human had remained almost perfectly still and silent except for the slight sound of her breathing. The tenseness and drawn up set of the slighter and much shorter female's shoulders betrayed the fact that she seemed ready to cringe before a blow that might come at any time. Given what Vasir knew of the Batarian's cruel and often capricious treatment of their human slaves, the matron wasn't really surprised by the female's behavior. The Senior Intelligence Agent held in a sigh at the task that awaited her with the human. Their deception with Captain Daf'feer hopefully meant that the human wouldn't attempt to attack or escape from her, but in some ways the former slave's earlier attempts at defiance were preferable to her current behavior.

Tela angled her head slightly more toward the human sitting in next to her as she considered the female for which she was now responsible and who believed that the asari was her new Master. The former slave's head was bowed, her gaze fixed firmly upon the floor. Compared to the asari seated around her in the shuttle, the human looked as if she were a youth she was so much shorter and slenderer than they; only the curves of her breasts and hips showed that the human was not a child or youth, but an adult female of her race. All of the Huntresses with them had seen the bruising upon the human’s face and knew the nature of her injuries. Even as Vasir glanced around she saw one Huntress give the human a brief glance, the maiden's expressions both simply curious and sympathetic. Tela wasn’t certain if the human had noticed the attention she was getting, but she suspected the former slave had noticed and no matter how innocently meant, the looks were only contributing to the female human's current fearful behavior. The intelligence agent doubted that any notice from the former slave’s Masters had been kindly meant.

Though Vasir couldn't see the human female's eyes at the moment, she clearly remembered the unusual mixing of colors within them, they were predominantly green, but with a very noticeable rayed halo of golden brown around the black pupil. The color of the former slave’s eyes was different from the eye colors seen in almost all Asari, which were almost always just of one color. The unusual coloration of the human's eyes had been one of the reasons for Tela selecting the sole female from the group of otherwise all male humans they had captured. The female's green and brown eyes had captured the matron's attention as Tela stared down at the human female who was so poorly attempting to hide her fear behind a thin mask of defiance, and stayed in her mind as she looked over the other humans they had captured. 

Eye color however, had been the least of the reasons for her choice, much greater ones were the simple fact that the human was female, and thus the xeno-behaviorlists believed would be less aggressive and easier to control than the males of her species. The second reason had been the evidence of her recently being brutalized by the batarian Overseer they had captured. Vasir had hoped at the time she made the decision which slave she would attempt to save that the female would be more receptive to the deception she and T'Louck had just scripted out utilizing their unexpected batarian captive - which reminded Tela that she needed to check on the human who had been bleeding earlier from her injuries, though not enough to endanger her health in the short term.

The matron lifted her arm and activated the medical suite of her omni-tool. She had the earlier readings the Huntresses guarding the female captive had taken of the slave's wounds, but the asari needed to find out if they had been aggravated in any way that required immediate medical attention instead of waiting until the medical staff on Fortis could treat the former slave. Turning in her seat toward the human, her sharp eyes noted the reaction of the green eyed female at her motion: the slight flinch away from her, the deepened hunching of the shoulders, and the increased tension in the shorter form along with the picked up pace of the female's breathing. Deciding to ignore the clear signs of fear in the former slave for now, the asari began her scans starting at the humans head and proceeding down along the female's body. 

After finishing, Tela was pleased to note that the human's injuries had not worsened from the earlier scan. The female was actually doing slightly better as the bleeding from her vaginal injuries, which had reopened during the battle, had stopped. There was nothing that required immediate attention, decided Vasir, so further treatment for the human’s injuries would wait until they reached Fortis and the base’s medical facilities and staff. Considering the other female's hunched, tense figure a moment longer, Tela remembered the spectacular bruising developing upon the human's face and thought of where the female was injured. She would be surprised if besides being scared and worried about what they had planned for her, the human female was also not in a great deal of pain. 

The only non-medicinal way to alleviate it would be to let the human lie on her side on the floor, but that was simply not a safe option as they were still in hostile space and might come under attack at any time. There were some essential medicines, clotting agents, sedatives, and pain relievers that the xenobiologists had cleared for use in this mission based on the medical information they had gained about the Human’s over the years they had been gathering intelligence on the species. Giving the human medicine for her pain would not only make the female more comfortable, Tela reasoned, but also demonstrate to the human how she would be better treated by the intelligence agent than she had been by the Batarians. Hopefully such treatment would lessen her fear of the asari and begin to the build the trust between them that Tela needed to succeed in her mission.

"I'm pleased that you've quit bleeding," Tela commented in Batarian, causing the female human to turn her head and body as much toward the asari as she could while remaining restrained in her flight harness. The former slave's helmeted head remained bowed throughout the entire change in position and her gaze remained fixed upon the floor. Tela had paused in her speech while this was going on to simply observe what the human was doing with an evaluating gaze. The asari's silence persisted for a moment while the intelligence agent stared at the female thoughtfully, then she continued speaking, "None of your injuries are severe enough that proper medical care can’t wait until we reach the base and the hospital there. However, given the amount of bruising and injuries my medical scan is showing I suspect you are in a significant amount of pain right now and I believe there is something that we can immediately do about that." 

The intelligence agent turned away from the human before the female could respond in any way, and addressed the Huntress who served as a medic for T'Louck's team, "I believe we have some medicines onboard that the doctors cleared as safe to administer to humans?"

The Huntress, a deep blue complexioned matron named Saifla Atetora, turned her attention to the female human and stared at her thoughtfully for a few seconds before replying, "Diaxylprozen should be safe to administer to her for pain and as a mild muscle relaxant.” Bending over, she withdrew the medical case from underneath her seat and placed it on her lap. She opened it, and began searching though it before continuing, "It is administered as a skin patch for long term pain relief and quickly clears the system once it is removed. That will help just in case she has a bad reaction to it or they wish to administer another medicine once we reach the base."

Tela’s dark brown eyes narrowed both in recognition of the name of a commonly used medicine and in concern at the mention of any risk associated with giving it to the human, “Is there any significant chance of a bad reaction?”

The medic shook her head, her calm expression showing her lack of concern about that possibility as she pulled out a foil pouch from the medical kit. “No, it is the one they recommended as the safest to give a human for pain relief,” she commented as she opened it, “but just in case she does have a bad reaction to it is also the easiest one to treat those symptoms as well by simply removing the patch. It’s the same reason that diaxylproxen is approved for use with infants and young children.” Saifla consulted her omni-tool for a moment and then with a pair of cutters from kit cut the medical patch from the foil pouch in half. “One of these patch’s is sized for a large human male, she’s quite a bit smaller and lighter than that so she gets half that dosage,” the dark blue asari informed Vasir. 

Huntress Atetora unhooked her harness and came over to where the human was seated beside Tela. “Applying the medicinal patch containing the pain reliever anywhere is fine," she said, switching from the most commonly used Asari language into Batarian so the human would understand what she was saying and what she was doing, "but the doctors recommended over her inner forearm if it couldn’t easily be placed on her shoulder or back so we or she needs to remove a gauntlet. Either arm will be fine.”

The human did finally glance up then, her green-brown eyes flickering upward to meet Tela's darker ones, a mute question within them as if asking whether or not to obey the other asari. "Remove your gauntlet and let her treat you," Vasir directed the female, "there is no reason for you to suffer for the few hours it will take us to reach Fortis." Given clear direction from her the human quickly unlocked and pulled off her right armor gauntlet and then peeled off the under-layer glove beneath revealing pale colored skin with a faint pinkish undertone. Farther up on the human's forearm Tela could see very light colored short hairs sprouting from the skin. Interestingly the skin of the human's hand was noticeably lighter toned than the skin of her face.

"Well," Atetora commented as she reached out and grasped the human's hand, "I read that the eumelanin pigment production in skin areas where they were exposed to sunlight increased causing a human's skin to darken due to its brown and black coloration. It's interesting to see the evidence of that process in the difference in tone between this human's face and hand."

"Why does it do that?" one of the other Huntress's, a maiden named Talere Ateza inquired as she leaned over to look around the medic.

"UV absorption," Tela responded before the medic could as she recalled the information from one of the many reports she had read, "Eumelanin is an effective absorber of ultraviolet radiation, their skin produces more of it only where exposure triggers its production. It's an interesting adaptation."

"Mmm," Atetora made a curious sound as she turned the human's pale hand over so that she could place the patch on the female's inner forearm, drawing Tela's attention back to the medic and former slave.

"What is it?" Tela's brows drew together in a concerned frown as she inquired, “Is something wrong with her?"

“No, nothing like that”, the medic reassured her. “It’s just that I knew that their epidermis was much thinner than ours from the medical reports, but I hadn’t expected it to be so…apparent.” She held up the human’s hand, palm upward, for Tela's inspection, “Her skin is so thin and pale that you can clearly see the blood vessels that are just underneath it.”

The intelligence agent shifted in her seat and looked, Atetora was right she could easily see the bluish lines that indicated veins in the human's wrist. Intrigued she reached out and lightly brushed her armored fingers over the delicate looking skin, causing the human to draw in a noticeable breath and glance quickly over toward her before returning her green eyed gaze to the floor. Vasir glanced curiously at the area where the short pale hairs began and wondered if the hair on the human's head would be the same color when it grew out, then withdrew her hand and straightened so that the medic could proceed.

"Due to the relative thinness of her skin," Atetora commented as she applied the patch, "the patches I'm using on her actually use the base adhesive patch meant for infants and young children instead of adults." 

Once the medic was done she indicated to the human to put back on her glove and gauntlet and then turned to Tela, "As you are nearest, could you setup a continuous medical scan, once every minute or so should be fine to monitor her condition and reaction to the medicine. It doesn't need to be a complete one unless something goes wrong, just her torso and arm."

Tela nodded her understanding as she activated her omni-tool and set the parameters for the needed scans to alert them in case the human's condition worsened or she reacted badly to the medication. "Done," she informed Atetora once she had finished, "I set the program to both forward the human's data to your omni-tool, and to alert us if her readings change beyond the expected normal fluctuations for her species."

"Thank you," the dark blue hued Huntress responded as she rose from where she had been kneeling in front of the human and returned to her seat.

As the medic began to buckle herself into her safety harness, the maiden Talere spoke up once again, her voice rich with emotion - anger and sorrow primary among them, "Why do they send them to fight against us? Look at her," the young Huntress inclined her head toward the human female, "she has no biotics, is small enough that she seems as a child next to us and is frail enough in body that we are using medicines meant for an infant to treat her. Her race is obviously not as capable in combat as ours....or even the Batarian's," she added seemingly as an afterthought. The purple hued maiden shook her head, her expression a mix of pained emotions as she stared at the human female.

Batarian's do not care about the number of casualties in their slave population, and they need bodies to throw at our forces to wear us down," T'Louck responded surprising Tela. Up until now the Commander had been focused upon completing the many reports she needed to make detailing what had occurred during the mission. She shut down her omni-tool's haptic interface and turned her attention to her distressed subordinate, "Just remember," she advised the younger asari sternly, but not unkindly, "no matter how sympathetic you may feel toward the humans and their plight - they are quite capable of killing you despite their lack of biotics and stature and will do so without any hesitation when ordered to by their Batarian masters.

Talere bowed her head her superior's admonishment, "Of course Commander. I just wish that we did not have to kill them. The maiden lifted her head and once again looked over at the human, "They are not really our enemies, if anything they are victims."

T'Louck's lips thinned and an expression of distaste and anger marred her expression, "Trust me, I'm quite aware of how cruelly the Batarian's treat their human slaves," the Commander responded, her tone bleak. "They have been so harshly treated since they were very young that none of them would dare hesitate out of pure fear of their Batarian masters to kill us, so we must not hesitate in killing them when necessary." She glanced over toward the one slave they had freed, her expression turning grim, "Truthfully, if we cannot free them then killing them is being merciful to them." 

There was silence after she spoke as every asari in the shuttle was suddenly reminded that T'Louck had stripped the Overseer batarian they had captured of his memories...memories which obviously included some very unpleasant ones of his treatment of the human slaves, including this one. Tela grimaced, despite the fact that she still wished that she had been the one to gain the intelligence concerning the location of the human home world and the experiments the Batarian's were carrying out on the enslaved race from Captain Daf’feer, she was grateful that she did not have his memories of abusing this human or any of the other slaves assigned to his unit. Just from the nature of the slight female's injuries, she could make an accurate guess as to what had happened just a few hours ago to the human.

T'Louck shifted her attention from the human female to Vasir, "As you can see from the number on her helmet and armor, Daf'feer simply knew her as Slave 29045," the Commander paused for a moment and then shook her head with a slight sigh, "whatever she was called before that was of no concern to him." The purple hued asari shifted her gaze back to the female human, "She is used to a constant level of abuse and will obey you in the hope of it simply not becoming worse. If she has known any gentleness in her life it was before she was taken at four years of age, the equivalent of an asari child of six or seven, and perhaps brief furtive moments of kindness from the other human slaves."

"So young," Atetora commended with shocked sadness as she looked over at the human.

Her comment was immediately followed upon by young Talere with a simple shocked exclamation of, "Goddess," and such a pitying look at the human that Vasir didn't doubt that in other circumstances the maiden might actually come over to attempt to console the former slave. As for the female human, the Huntresses had been speaking in their own language for the past few minutes so she could not understand what was being said, but she could obviously guessed that she was the topic of conversation given that she was the center of their attention and was now huddling even further into her seat. Tela had no doubt that if she reached over and turned the humans face toward her that she would see an expression of terror on the female's bruised face.

Vasir frowned, "Not that feeling sympathy for her and the other humans’ situation is wrong," she commented as she returned her attention to the other asari in the shuttle, "but everyone focusing their attention on her, especially when she doesn't understand why, is only frightening her." Her comment, meant only to get the Huntresses to stop staring at the human, caused several of them to start trying to reassure the human in Batarian that they meant her no harm.

Commander T'Louck snapped out, "Let Vasir calm her," she ordered, her voice cutting through the babble and immediately silencing it.

Tela gave the other matron a brief thankful look before she turned to the female human. "29045," she said in Batarian, careful to keep the aggravation she was feeling at the situation out of her tone. None of it was the former slave’s fault after all.

The human immediately turned her head in the asari's direction and made a noise in acknowledgement. The female may not have spoken, but in the slightly high pitched sound she made everyone could discern her fear and stress.

"You haven't done anything wrong 29045," she said to the human female in a softer tone, "you've been very obedient and have pleased me thus far with your behavior." That got her a quick sideways glance as if the human were seeking verification of her assurance before the female's green eyed gaze returned to the floor of the shuttle. "You are the first human we have taken from the Batarians, raising questions about your species and their capabilities." Tela hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I understand your fear, but you will need to get used to your presence causing curiosity and interest among Asari, as for many of them you will be the first human they have ever seen in person. Asari are not Batarians, staring at you does not mean an Asari intends to harm you, It simply means they are curious about you and nothing more." 

The senior intelligence agent stared at the human's bowed head for a moment before reaching out and cupping the human's chin and turning her head so that she could see the human's face. The female made no effort to resist her beyond an initial tenseness, letting Tela move her head as the asari wished with only widened eyes to betray her concern. "Do you understand me 29045?" Those green eyes with their light brown halo around the iris flickered up to meet her darker eyes for only a second before dropping as the human female made an affirmative sound. There was still fear and stress within the sound, but noticeably less than only seconds earlier. Tela knew she would have to be satisfied with it for berating the human for it would certainly not lessen her fear. "Good," she let go of the human's chin and sat back in her seat.

Moments later her omni-tool showed that the Commander had sent a message to her. Curious she activated the device and pulled up the message. 

While kindness is the right way to treat her and earn her trust, be careful with her Agent Vasir. Once she gets a taste of gentle treatment, I have no doubt that she will do anything she believes you desire to keep you pleased with her and prevent the abuse from starting again. - T'Louck

Tela considered the Commander's message for several thoughtful seconds. She glanced toward the Commander, meeting her dark eyed gaze, and then inclined her head in silent acknowledgement of the other asari's warning. She would need to be very careful what she said around the human.


	8. Plans and Kindness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: Alternate Universe in which the Protheans won a Phyrric victory over the Reapers, destroying both their Empire and nearly destroying the Mass Relay system. Mass Effect Universe with no Reapers, no Citadel, and no Citadel Council or Citadel race alliance. Many thanks to PMC65 for letting me use the Asari culture and characters from her “Thessian Whisper” and “The Shepardess and the Questing Beast” in this story. The timeline is in both Earth time in Anno Domini (AD) years and in Asari Republics Republic Era (RE) years which is marked from the beginning of the League of Republics upon Thessia, the first unified Thessian government. The story begins in 4714 RE/2190 AD.
> 
> Race Notes: Accurate weights and heights will be used as per the ME1 game information and not the visual depiction in the game. Thus the Krogan average over 7 foot tall, Turians and Hanar are next at just over 6.5’, Asari range from 6.5’ to 6’ as that is how PMC65 described them in her stories, Salarians, Batarians, Quarians and Humans average at just under 6’ in height while Volus and Vorcha are among the shortest races at 5 feet and under. In all races with two genders males will be taller than females and average height is for both males and females of a race.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 9/14/2014; 9/15/2014 (minor); 9/16/2014 (grammar)

Only the light in the main area of the guest quarters assigned to Vasir was on, illuminating a decently sized room with a large video display screen on one wall, a couch and a few chairs across from it, and a work desk with a terminal where the intelligence agent was currently working upon her notes for the recently completed mission. Tela looked up from display screen of the terminal, leaned back in her chair, turned her head and glanced though the doorway of the second bedroom of her guest quarters, verifying that the human within was still sleeping. The still form of the female under the covers of the bed had moved from lying on her side to lying on her back, one outstretched arm slipping out from underneath the comforter to lay pale against the dark blue sheets of the bed. Pale that was except for the dark violet finger shaped bruises upon her upper forearm.

Tela’s dark brown eyes narrowed in anger as her gaze dwelled upon them. Besides the bruising discoloring the human’s face from where Daf’feer had struck her, the batarian had also left evidence his cruelty elsewhere upon the human’s body. There were more, many more bruises upon the female's thighs where the batarian had gripped her harshly as he raped her. Tela had observed the extent of the recently freed slave’s injuries during the human’s medical examination upon reaching Fortis. It had angered the intelligence agent to such an extent that recalling T'Louck’s lack of gentleness with the slave overseer as the Commander ripped through the batarian’s mind searching for information had given Tela a sense of vengeful satisfaction.

The intelligence agent turned back to the display screen and glanced at the time. It would probably be several hours before the human woke as she was still under the effects of the sedative/pain relief medicine the doctors had given her following her surgery to repair as much of the damage done to her body as possible. What remained, the extensive bruising and now sutured injuries, would require time and proper care to heal and it was Tela's responsibility to ensure that was provided to the human.

When she had first accepted this mission from the Matriarchs, both she and they had left unspoken the assumption that she would need to seduce the slave she freed in order to discover the information they needed to make a decision on the enslaved race. The reason behind this assumption was simple, she needed to meld with the human and there was one difficulty in melding with non-asari that almost all aliens, and quite a few Asari unless they had previously melded with a non-asari, were unaware of - the other race's minds instinctively fought the joining, struggling against what was not a natural process to them. Even when the asari initiating the meld did not intend it, she could cause intense pain and discomfort in her non-asari melding partner by joining with them too quickly and without enough care to ensure they were accepting and not struggling against the meld.

Tela did not want to hurt human when she melded with the female. Not only because she simply didn't want to cause the former slave any more pain, but also because it would lead to the human being fearful of melding with her and struggling against it even more over time. That left the most common method used to facilitate the meld, sharing physical pleasures with the human. Sexual desire naturally caused the non-asari meld partner to be more receptive to the joining. That receptiveness along with going slowly and gently into the meld eased the process for the non-asari partner in the meld and ensured that they did not suffer any discomfort from 'embracing eternity.'

This would hardly be the first mission in which Vasir chose to seduce her target as a means to obtain intelligence from them. One of the easiest ways to search through someone's mind for information without them being aware of it was to seduce and then meld with them for pleasure. The asari always controlled the meld with a partner of another species, giving away only what she desired while the non-asari's mind was largely open to the asari. A fact that they did not speak of to the other species, the galaxy was a dangerous place and the Asari did not freely give away their secrets or advantages over the other races. It was a lesson they had learned over forty thousand years ago when they were visited by a scout ship belonging to an alien race whose name had been lost over time.

The primitive Asari had warmly welcomed their alien visitors, but the Matriarchs were cautious of the aliens’ intent. One of them had melded with the aliens’ leader while sharing physical pleasure with him and while joined searched his mind for his true intent. From his mind the Matriarch discovered that the aliens intended to enslave the Asari and force them to mine the rich deposits of eezo on the planet. The night after her discovery, the Matriarchs danced the _nectpir_ , a dance of seduction, for their guests and when the aliens’ minds were clouded by the dance Huntresses attacked and killed the alien scouting force in its entirety. Fortunately no other aliens followed the initial scouting force to attack Thessia and the discoveries on Feros made historians suspect that the Reapers had wiped out the aliens which had attacked them prior to the Protheans final desperate attack against the Reapers with the Crucible.

The knowledge that the aliens had intended to enslave their race taught the Matriarchs a sharp lesson of caution when dealing with other races lest they prove to be deceptive and hiding ill-intent toward the Asari. The tale of the aliens, and the lesson they had taught the Asari, was carefully passed down from Matriarch to Matriarch through the millennia until the current time. That ancient lesson of caution had guided the Matriarchs in their initial diplomatic dealings with the Salarian Union, and proved its wisdom when the salarians proved themselves both duplicitous and murderous in their dealings with the Republics. The same lesson of caution was guiding the Matriarchs now with the Humans and drove their need to know more about the species before deciding whether to aid the enslaved race.

Tela expected to feel sympathetic toward whichever human she freed for she knew how the Batarians treated their human slave soldiers both from what she had witnessed firsthand during various intelligence gathering missions, and from the mission reports of other agents. What Tela hadn't expected was that the human would elicit far more emotions from her than just sympathy. The female's shorter, leanly muscular, yet femininely curved figure, the sight of pale, delicate appearing skin where the bluish blood veins could be seen underneath, and the fear in green eyes with a rayed halo of light brown stirred feelings of protectiveness within her...and yes, sexual curiosity as well and desire to touch that pale, delicate appearing skin and see not fear within those green eyes, but clearly evident want, need and willing acceptance of her touch.

The human female, even with the bruising on her face, was very beautiful, and now that the intelligence agent acknowledged how attractive she found the former slave she had to admit to herself that the female's beauty had played a significant part in her picking the woman over the male humans they had captured. In the back of Vasir's mind, the knowledge that she would have to seduce the human influenced her to chose the one out of all of those they had captured who she found most attractive as it would make the task far more pleasant for her. Yes, Tela found the human's features pleasing to look upon and the thought of showing the female that her touch would bring pleasure and not pain, and that pleasure could be shared instead of just taken was...personally enticing as well as necessary to her mission.

That left only the question of how to seduce the human in such a way that she didn't add to the trauma that the female had already experienced at the hands of her various Masters. Tela certainly didn't want the human female to simply submit to her, she wanted the former slave to not fear her, to trust that the asari's touch would bring pleasure to them both and not pain and torment. The intelligence agent sighed as she turned her head so that she could look into the bedroom again at the sleeping form of the human. What she desired would not be easy to obtain, it would take time and patience for her to get the former slave to feel anything but fear in her presence. In any case the human needed time for her injuries to heal, currently as bruised and damaged as the human's sex was even if she touched the female as gently as possible she would hurt the woman.

Her gaze sharpened upon the still form of the former slave as a possible course of action came together in her mind. Instead of acting upon it immediately however, Tela took a quiet moment to mull her idea over, consider the myriad possible ways in which it could go wrong and make the current situation worse instead of better. Should she or shouldn't she, wondered the asari intelligence agent. Would she make things worse or could this move things in the direction she desired? Eventually, the asari matron turned back to the data terminal at the desk. Tela glanced over the reports she had completed, made a few corrections and then ensured they were saved to her omni-tool before powering off the terminal.

Heading first into her own room the agent stripped off her clothing, revealing that the purple markings upon the asari's face continued down her neck and onto her shoulders, upper arms, back, and the outside of her legs. Her body was leanly fit, finely honed by constant training and the challenges of field work. Underneath her blue skin, muscles rippled in her arms and back as the asari tossed her soiled clothes into the laundry hamper next to the closet and then moved over to the wide double drawer dresser across from the bed to pull out her preferred sleepwear, a set of loose pants and shirt in a soft, silky fabric.

Pausing she looked over at the wide bed, considering abandoning her plans for tonight and just sleeping in it and then shook her head. Currently the human had no idea what to expect from her or from their interactions. Therefore now was the perfect time to take advantage of being a complete unknown to the female and defining the parameters of their relationship to the ones Tela desired instead of the ones to which the former slave was more familiar and accustomed. A small, but sad smile curved the matron's dark blue lips. It wasn't as if the human was going to argue with where her new 'Master' chose to sleep after all, and getting the former slave used to the idea of Tela being close to her and not harming her would be very beneficial for the asari's future plans.

Finally resolved in her decision, Tela quickly pulled on the clothing she had taken out and made her way back out of her bedroom and into the one next to it where the human was sleeping. The former slave hadn’t moved from the last time the asari had looked in on her, she was still on her back with one pale arm outstretched. Moving to the side of the bed, Tela paused for a moment to simply look at the sleeping human. The cold compresses and healing salve they had applied to the former slave’s face during the surgery had already had a positive effect, reducing the swelling of the woman’s features. Her pale skin was still marred with dark bluish bruising around her nose, cheeks and mouth, but it at least seemed no worse than earlier in the day.

Giving into her curiosity Tela reached out and touched the human’s bare arm, trailing her fingers along the smooth, soft and warm to her touch pale skin. Her brown eyed gaze flickered up toward the female’s face to see if the human would react, but under the sedative effects of the pain medicine the doctor had given the former slave the human remained still and asleep, apparently completely unaware of her actions. The asari could see the short pale-colored hair that covered the pale skin under her fingertips, but she could barely feel them they were so fine and soft to the touch. The sparse hair seemed useless in either protecting the female’s delicate skin or in providing any additional warmth and Tela had to wonder what evolutionary advantage such a fine light covering of hair provided to the human. The asari lifted the human’s forearm and took a moment to examine the female’s long fingered, fine boned hands. Marveling at their delicateness and the thinness of the human's skin as she brushed her fingers underneath the human’s palm and then fingers to lift and support them. Afterward, her curiosity satisfied for the moment, Tela reached down to pull up the sleeve of the cream colored shirt which had bunched up by the human’s elbow and then placed the now covered arm on across the former slave’s stomach.

Once they had reached Fortis, Tela and the female human had immediately been transported to the military base’s medical center. There the intelligence agent watched as the human was stripped out of her armor and underlayer down to her pale bruised skin by two nurses and then bathed in preparation for her surgery. Tela had remained near the frightened human, talking to her in a calm, reassuring tone, letting the former slave know what was happening to her until the point when the anesthesia for the surgery rendered the female unconscious. Following the surgery, the human had been dressed in what she was wearing now, a long sleeved shirt and pants in a soft fabric designed for warmth, as a humans body temperature was naturally a few degrees warmer than an asari’s, and to not irritate the female’s injuries.

Tela pulled back the covers and moving carefully slipped onto the bed and levered herself over so that she was laying close to the woman before pulling the sheets and comforter up over her body. Settling into the bed and arranging the pillow to suit her, the asari allowed herself to finally begin to relax as she turned her head to gaze at the human next to her who was thankfully still asleep. This close she could actually feel the warmth emanating from the alien female. There wasn’t so much of a temperature difference between them that the human felt unpleasantly warm - quite the contrary, the human’s slightly higher body temperature felt quite pleasant. Pleasant enough that after a moment Tela rolled onto her side, closing the remaining distance between her and the woman and carefully fitted herself against the human. The asari closed her eyes and savored the feel of the slighter, smaller, and warmer body next to her.

Warm, soft...medicinal, Tela's nose wrinkled at the unmistakable smell of disinfectant left over from the surgical prep on the human. The scent wasn't strong enough or objectionable enough for her to roll back over on her back and put more distance between her and the female however, instead the asari distracted herself from the smell by opening her eyes once again and focusing her attention on the human's face. The female's face was smoothed out in her deep sleep, free at this moment of the cast of fear and tension that seemed to be the human's constant companion, and she looked young and oddly innocent. Using the medical information they had obtained over the years of spying on the Batarians, the doctors had estimated the former slave's age. The female human was fairly young, definitely in her maiden years and around seventeen to twenty years old. To Tela that sounded exceedingly young considering that an asari of the same age would still be a child, but humans were a short lived species and this one was fully grown and capable of bearing children.

Or at least she should be able to bear children, thanks to the Batarians practices with their female human slave soldiers whether or not she actually could bear children was uncertain at this time. While the human was sedated and the surgeons were repairing her injuries and removing her control chip, they had also taken the time to remove the female's contraceptive implant. It had been there for years; perhaps even before the female reached full sexual maturity and because of that the doctor's weren't certain if the human's reproductive organs had been given the time to fully mature before it was implanted. If they had then all should be well, if not...Tela frowned as she thought of the doctor’s prognosis, then the female would likely be infertile and there would be little they could do about it given the cause. If that was the outcome, then it did not bode well for the minimalist scenario (a fallback idea in case the race proved worth saving, but the Republics could not free the Human homeworld) of providing a safe haven for at least some humans through freeing a few units of slave soldiers if those slave soldiers could not bear children.

The mission had already included plans for closely monitoring the human's health, including what seemed to Tela like every medical and blood test known to the Asari medical profession as part of the human's daily, weekly and monthly testing regimens. Now additional to those, even more in depth reproductive organ health and reproductive hormone level testing would be added to the long list of weekly health checks. Tela's brow quirked in wry and somewhat pitying amusement as she gazed on the sleeping female, between the health monitoring bracelet the human was wearing on her left wrist and the weekly and monthly testing schedule there should be very little medical wise about the human that escaped the doctor's notice. Now that they had an actual live human to examine, prod, and take blood from the doctors seemed intent on answering to all of their remaining questions about the species from this one human.

Tela's gaze finally focused on the oh so familiar and yet unfamiliar features of the human. Asari, Batarians and Humans all shared a common bipedal, five-fingered body shape and female Humans and Batarians were especially similar in body shape to the Asari, but only the Humans shared similar facial features with the Asari. Facially, the only dissimilar features between Asari and Humans were skin texture, different ranges of skin coloration, the presence of hair instead of a cartilaginous crest, and external ears. The sheer amount of similarity in appearance between the two species was startling...and somewhat eerie, especially when one added the fact that facial expressions and emotional displays between the two races was also very similar. Her gaze rested on the straight brow and then moved to the long aquiline nose, high cheekbones, full reddish lips and then slightly squarish chin of the female all within an oval shaped face. Tela didn't know what standards of beauty were among Humans, but an Asari with the same facial features as this human would definitely be considered beautiful.

Tela's gaze dwelt a moment longer upon the female’s features before drifting downward to where a small square white bandage covered the area where the surgeons had removed the former slave’s control chip. That part of the surgery had actually taken the greatest amount of time, removing the implant from where it had drilled into and through the human’s skull and the nanofine wires embedded into the human’s brain. The intelligence agent did not think she would ever forget the incredulous and then pleadingly hopeful look on the female's face when she had asked the human if she would be continue to be obedient without the control chip. The former slave, naked after being stripped of her armor and underlayer by the nurses, had dropped to her knees and bowed until her forehead nearly touched the floor while ignoring the surprised looks and then protests of the nurses at her action. The female barked a strangled sounding confirmation to her new asari ‘Master’ and then another and another.

To stop her Tela ordered in Batarian, "Enough 29045," as she strode over to stand in front of the kneeling female who was now cringing in fear and doubtlessly expecting that she would now be harshly punished as well as the control chip remaining inside her head. The intelligence agent knelt down next to the former slave and lightly touched the side of her head where a squarish, rough-looking scar showed where the control chip had been implanted. The asari ignored the human's brief flinch away from her hand before the female controlled herself and remained still under her touch. Gentling her tone, Tela said reassuringly, "I believe you. When you wake up this will be gone."

Her hand still gently cupping the side of the female's head, Vasir had then looked up narrow eyed at the two nurses and in common dialect sternly warned them to not interfere with her handling of the human. The idea of freedom would be introduced when the Matriarchs overseeing the mission indicated that the human was ready for it and not before, and certainly not by them. Simply the statement that multiple Matriarchs had an interest in the mission was enough to completely quell the nurses’ protests and, in an abrupt change of attitude, elicit their quick assurances that they would certainly not question the wisdom of the Matriarchs and would leave dealing with the human strictly to her.

The place just behind and above her right ear, where the control chip had been implanted, had been the first thing the former slave had tried to reach when she awoke only to be stymied by the fluid lines still inserted into her arms and hands and then the sternly worded order by Tela to remain still until they were taken out. As soon as one hand was freed the female reached up and pressed upon the bandage verifying by touch that her control chip, the one that had been there since she was a very young child given the bone growth around it, was no longer present. The female had taken one deep shuddering breath after another as her green eyes brightened and then welled with tears which seconds later rolled down her cheeks. Then the human's heart monitors had started beeping as the female realized she was 'wasting water' in front of her new Master and her attitude abruptly shifted from deeply grateful to terrified within the space of only few seconds.

Tela saw the look of abject fear upon the human's face, and then saw the female glance toward the floor. That was all the indication the intelligence agent needed to predict the former slave's next action. Tela lunged forward just as 29045 moved and wrapped her arms around the female, physically restraining her from getting off the hospital bed and kneeling upon the floor for punishment. A sharp and unequivocally stated order was sufficient to get the human to lie down once again upon the bed, but words were not enough to persuade the still terrified former slave to calm down, not after the years of abusive conditioning applied by the Batarians.

After a few minutes, the doctors who were monitoring the human's vitals were concerned enough about the amount of physical stress the former slave was experiencing that they decided to go ahead and give her the dose of post-operative pain medicine they had originally intended to give her just before releasing her from the hospital. The medicine was also a powerful sedative and would act to calm the female. It worked, indeed it worked so well that the former slave could barely manage to walk and finally Tela had just picked up the female and carried her both to the waiting vehicle and then, once they had arrived, into her guest quarters.

Tela sighed, reached up and lightly stroked her finger tips along the smooth skin of the female's bruised face, hopefully tomorrow would be less stressful for the human. She planned for them to remain in her guest quarters except for a few excursions for food and gentle exercise depending on how the human's recovery from today's surgery progressed for the next few days. That should give the former slave some time to get used to her changed circumstances and new Master without any interference from anyone else. Tela understood that the Huntresses in the shuttle and the two nurses had meant well, but ultimately their behavior had been confusing and frightening to the human. Perhaps in a few months the former slave would be ready to take her first steps into independence and freedom, but she was definitely not ready for it now and probably wouldn’t be even in the next several weeks.

The asari matron rested her head against her pillow; her hand stroking the warm, smooth skin of the human's face stilled, rested against the female's cheek for a moment before Tela lifted it away and let her arm settle to her side on top of the covers. At least she was no longer as worried about bringing the human home with her to live with her mother and daughter. The former slave seemed oddly gentle and mild-natured now that she was not fighting against them. Perhaps the young maiden Huntress from the shuttle today was right and Humans were simply ill suited as warriors thought the intelligence agent. Or at least those who were still alive were ill suited to it - Tela grimly corrected herself, thinking that the Batarians were certain to have killed any human who dared resist them when they first subjugated the species. Only those humans who had either been too cowardly to fight or smart enough to yield and submit to their new Masters would have survived the invasion of their homeworld.


	9. Asari are not Batarians Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: Alternate Universe in which the Protheans won a Phyrric victory over the Reapers, destroying both their Empire and nearly destroying the Mass Relay system. Mass Effect Universe with no Reapers, no Citadel, and no Citadel Council or Citadel race alliance. Many thanks to PMC65 for letting me use the Asari culture and characters from her “Thessian Whisper” and “The Shepardess and the Questing Beast” in this story. The timeline is in both Earth time in Anno Domini (AD) years and in Asari Republics Republic Era (RE) years which is marked from the beginning of the League of Republics upon Thessia, the first unified Thessian government. The story begins in 4714 RE/2190 AD.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.  
> Revision History: 11/26/2014; 11/28/2014 (grammar)

29045 woke up by slow degrees, grateful that she had managed to wake before the Masters came into the slave barracks and woke those unfortunate enough to still be sleeping with shouted commands followed up with strikes from the Masters' batons if a sleeping slave did not wake quickly enough. Even with her mind decidedly on the sleepy side of wakefulness, 29045 was cognizant enough to remain still and silent as she could hear no one else stirring and she did not want to attract the Masters attention to her by showing that she was awake. Underneath her one blanket she was comfortably warm, a state of being that was extremely rare as the Masters did not cool the slave barracks or heat them either unless the weather was extremely cold, and her thin and lumpy mattress felt much softer this morning than usual. As the seconds went by with no angry, shouting Master’s arriving to disturb the peaceful silence, it was not long before the warmth surrounding her and the softness of the bed underneath her pulled the human female back into the oblivion of sleep.

The female slave wasn't certain what sensation stirred her back to wakefulness a second time, only that she was abruptly fully awake and aware of the press of another body against her back, a weight across her side and stomach, and the feel of rhythmic breathing across the shaved, bare skin of her head. The realization caused the human to tense fearfully; she was not alone in her bed. Her green eyes snapped open not to the expected slave barracks with which she was familiar, but to what looked like a Master's room. Keeping her head and body still the slave looked down at the thick woven dark blue covers draped over her - which were certainly not well-washed, once a black but now grey-hued slave blanket - and in a Master's bed. Finally, shifting her head only the slightest amount necessary, 29045 looked down her to where an arm just a few shades lighter blue than the sheets underneath it draped over her body. 

At the sight, the events of the day before came back to 29045 in a rush of memory. She was no longer a slave of the Batarian Masters. Instead she was now a slave of the Asari Masters, who were also the rightful Masters of the Batarians. 29045 was now the slave of the asari Master who was sleeping in the same bed as she, whose arm around her waist held her against her Master’s sleeping body, and whose breath she felt across the top of her head. 29045’s green eyes widened in alarmed surprise as memories of the previous night came to her - being carried by her new Master into her Master's house and then placed into this soft bed and covers pulled up and over her body. Her Master had ordered her to sleep, and that had been what she had done as soon as the asari had left her alone. 

Her breath becoming uneven in her growing agitation, 29045's mind raced as she wondered what she should do, the only time she had ever been in a Master’s bed was when they took pleasure from her body and as soon as the Master was finished they sent her back to the slave barracks. 29045 did not remember when her new Master had joined her, and if her body had given pleasure to the asari then she did not remember it happening. If there were slave barracks where she should sleep then 29045 did not know where they were located, and in any case her new Master had made it very clear last night at the medical facility that her Master expected her to stay where the asari put her. If she were put into a bed then she was to remain there until ordered elsewhere or allowed the freedom to move about as needed to follow her Master’s orders.

Her asari Master had placed her in this bed, 29045’s mind latched onto that thought as a welcome certainty in her current unfamiliar and bewildering circumstances, therefore her Master expected her to stay here until ordered to move or do something else. Somewhat reassured by her reasoning the slave resolved to be still and quiet. 29045 did not want to begin this day by displeasing her Master by waking the asari, thus the slave disciplined herself to remain perfectly still and ignore any discomfort or needs of her own body. This type of mental discipline, placing her Master's needs first and knowing that her own did not matter in comparison, was familiar and thus calming to the human. Focusing upon it decreased her fear and allowed her breathing to slow, eventually returning to normal.

After a several minutes of careful stillness, 29045 finally became curious enough to begin looking around at what she could see of the room without moving her head. She had only been in a Master’s house a few times before now and all of those had been the Batarian Masters military houses and not their normal houses. Both the standard slave barracks and Master's military houses were made of unadorned grey brick. The same burnished dark metal furniture with dark green or black insets furnished the Masters' houses and slave barracks, but the Masters hung colorful wall hangings over the grey brick making the Master's houses look very different from the slave barracks which had no wall hangings, only the bare, grey brick walls. 

The Asari Master's military houses, for that must be what this was given that the slave knew they were on one of the Asari military bases, were not made of dark grey brick or at least if they were of brick they were not bare brick on the inside. The wall directly in front of 29045 was covered in a cream colored cloth with silver and blue threads interwoven that formed intricate looping and swirling patterns which had the faintest metallic shimmer to them in the dim light of the room. Instead of a wall hanging, upon the wall was a picture in an intricately carved oval wooden frame of an open field surrounded by a dense forest and a path which led down to a rocky shoreline. There was really nothing else for the human female to look at within her immediate field of vision except for a piece of dark wooden furniture next to the bed with a lamp on top of it. 29045 had seen something similar in a few of the batarian Master's houses, but those had been made of dark metal and not wood. 

Finally, with nothing else to occupy her mind as the wall, picture and single piece of wooden furniture could only hold her interest for so long the slave's thoughts turned to the confusing, and truthfully overwhelming to her, events of the previous day and to the asari sleeping behind her. The asari Master, Senior Agent Vasir, her mind whispered the Master's name, had chosen her out of all the human slaves the Asari Masters had captured from the Batarian Masters. 29045 did not know why she had been singled out for she was not the best slave soldier; she was not as strong or highly skilled with weapons as the others. The only thing that made her different was that she was female and not male. Perhaps that was the reason the asari Master had chosen her instead of one of the more skilled male slave soldiers, however, for the Asari were all female and maybe they just preferred female slaves to male slaves. 

Yesterday, the human female had been terrified when she had realized that she was the only slave that had survived the Batarian Masters’ activating the captured slaves’ tracking collars. Today, she was still frightened and wished she were not alone, that there were other slaves with her, but she was not as frightened today as she had been yesterday and that was due to the way the Asari Masters and her asari Master in particular had treated her thus far compared to the way she had been treated by the Batarian Masters.

Yesterday the batarian Overseer Master had taken his pleasure from her body and made her hurt and bleed. Yesterday the Asari Masters had punished the Batarian Masters for their rebelliousness against the Asari Masters by killing them. Yesterday 29045's new asari Master had spared her life and had then taken the human as her own personal slave. Yesterday the asari Master had not only stopped her tracking collar from exploding, but then had later removed her tracking collar from around her neck and not replaced it with one of the Asari Masters’ own collars. Yesterday the asari Master had ordered that 29045's wounds be treated - a slave's wounds which previously had meant nothing to a Master other than deciding if they would end a slave's life or allow then time to heal. Yesterday the asari Master had asked her if she would be obedient without the device in her head that created pain, and then had ordered its removal when 29045 had responded affirmatively. 

Yesterday the asari Master had not punished her for wasting water from her eyes when she touched her head where she had felt the hard squareness of the pain giving device under her skin and realized that she could not feel it any more as the Master had promised her. Yesterday her new Master had not hit her with a heavy fist when she had attempted to get off the bed she had been placed upon to kneel upon the floor for punishment, instead her Master had held her in place, ordered her to remain where she had been placed, and then released her when she obeyed and laid still upon the bed. Yesterday her Master had told her that Asari Masters did not punish their slaves for showing their gratitude to their Master's for their kindness even when it included wasting water from their eyes. 

Yesterday she had been fearful of believing her new asari Master. Today she was still fearful, the Batarian Masters had rarely been kind to her and always punishment followed any kindness. She was afraid that the asari Master would be the same, that today she was punished for any disobedience thus she was determined to not be disobedient in any manner. Despite her fears of what today might bring however, 29045 was still less afraid today than she had been yesterday, and a small part of her hoped that her new asari Master would continue to be kind to her if she were a good slave. 29045 wanted to please her new asari Master, to show her Master that she was an obedient slave and not a rebellious slave needing punishment. She did not want her new Master to decide that she needed a new pain device put into her head.

Her Master's arm tightening briefly around her middle, pulling her even closer to her Master's body, was the only warning that 29045 had that her new Master was wakening. A few seconds later her asari Master softly whispered, "Are you awake my human?"

Just as softly, 29045 made an affirmative sound in response and the small part of her which hoped that her new Master would continue to be kind today grew at the lack of anger in the asari Master's voice. That did not mean that the larger part of her was not still wary and fearful however, Masters could change from being not angry to angry in a very brief moment. 29045 continued lying motionless upon the bed, expecting at any moment an order to kneel upon the floor. That order never came however, instead the Master's arm tightened around her again. The asari pulled the human closer until the female could feel the press of the Master's body all along her back and legs, the asari's breasts pressing against her upper back and the asari's hips and legs curved around her own. A moment later the human felt the press of cooler feeling skin against her head, then the slightly tickling sensation of breath across her ear. 29045's green eyes widened in startled surprise as she realized that what she felt was the pressure of the asari's cheek resting upon her head.

"Mmm," the Master made a quiet, pleased sounding rumble next to the 29045's ear, "you are pleasingly warm human."

29045 eyes widened further at the asari Master's words, her bewilderment growing even greater than before. She had realized yesterday that the Asari Masters' skin felt cooler than her own, but had not thought the Masters would find her warmth pleasing to them. Her Master's behavior in the few seconds since the asari's waking greatly confused 29045, but she remained quiet and still in her Master's arms, letting the Master do as the asari wished with her body. A slave's desires never mattered, only the Master's desires mattered, 29045 knew, and as strange as she found it, her new Master was not hurting her while taking pleasure from the warmth of her body.

After a few moments the Master spoke again, "Speaking of warmth," the asari lifted her arm and then slipped it underneath the covers. The Master then stroked her hand along the human's arm, drawing 29045's attention to the fact that the clothing she was wearing was made of thicker and softer cloth than the slave clothing she wore normally. The Master's hand came to rest upon her waist as the asari continued, "The doctors made these clothes for you to keep you warm and soft enough to not aggravate your injuries. Did they work? Were you warm enough last night?"

Clothes for her? Made for her? The Asari Masters had made clothes just for her...a slave? 29045 was so astonished by the idea that a Master - any Master - would make something to keep a slave warm and not hurt their wounds that several seconds passed in silence before the human realized that she had not yet responded to her Master's question. Cringing in fear, 29045 quickly made a sound of affirmation for she had indeed been warm enough last night.

A full second or two passed as 29045 grew ever more tense and fearful of her Master's response before the human heard the asari make an "Hmm" sound and felt the whisper of breath across the top of her ear. Another silent second passed before her Master continued, "Good, I'll let the doctors know that the fabric works."

The asari's hand upon 29045's waist slid forward, causing the human to tense in preparation for her punishment for making the Master wait for her answer, and then simply began moving in a small circle upon her stomach. The human listened to the even breaths of her Master as the asari's hand continued its slow even circling and waited for her Master to decide what punishment she deserved for her disobedience. Yet as the seconds passed nothing happened, adding to 29045's confusion, she was certain that by now any Batarian Master would have thrown her out of the bed to the floor and began punishing her - not that she would have been permitted to sleep beside them to be thrown out of the bed, thought 29045. 

Eventually, as the seconds continued to pass with no striking of fists or even angry words, 29045 started to believe that her Master was not going to punish her and began to relax. As her fear of her new Master hurting her diminished, 29045 began to pay more attention to the slow, circular, movement of her Master's hand upon her cloth covered stomach. Her Master's touch was firm but not harsh, and as she calmed, 29045 focused more upon how being touched by the asari this manner felt to her. It felt strange - good - but very strange to be held and touched so gently by a Master. The longer it continued the more other emotions stirred within 29045, emotions that caused the human female's eyes to sting as if she wanted to waste water from them. Sadness, the slave realized, but her new Master was not hurting her, the human thought in confusion. In fact, now that she was less afraid the sensation of her Master's body around her and her Master's hand upon her felt pleasant...but it also caused this strange sadness within her.

Her Master's hand ceasing its slow, steady, circling and moving upward to rest between her breasts drew 29045 out of her introspection. The human female tensed slightly, uncertain what her Master intended, but she wasn't nearly as afraid as she had been earlier. Her Master didn't move her hand or say anything for several seconds, and then finally the asari spoke. "Good, you've relaxed," her Master said softly, "I believe this morning we need to go over some of the ways that I am not like your former Batarian Masters. Unlike your former Masters who believed that slaves would only be docile and obedient if they were terrified of them, Asari believe that willing obedience based upon bonds of affection and loyalty between Mistress and follower...or servant, and offered out of a desire to please one's Mistress is vastly superior to a servant that is only obedient out of fear. I would rather you were obedient to me because you wish to please me rather than being afraid of what I might do to you if you disobey me, therefore I will not punish you for anything other than purposefully intended disobedience."

29045's thoughts were swirling in confusion as she listened to what her new Master was telling her, but even that did not stop the slight jerk of horrified disbelief at the idea of being purposefully disobedient. A slave who was openly disobedient and rebellious died a slow, very painful death. 29045 could not bring herself to believe that her Master would be very different in her reaction. Maybe, unlike her former Batarian Masters, her new asari Master would not kill her, but the human female had no doubt that she would greatly regret being disobedient.

Suddenly the pressure and coolness of her Master’s cheek against the side of her head was gone and then so was her Master’s body pressed up against the human’s back. 29045 tensed in fear, concerned that she might have somehow angered her new Master and was about to be punished. Despite her hopes and what the asari Master had just told her 29045 feared that the Master’s kindness would not last, for in the past a Master's kindness never lasted. The asari placed her hand upon the human’s shoulder and pulled upon it, silently indicating that the Master wished for 29045 to lie upon her back. Bracing herself for a harsh blow across her face, the human female did as the Master wished and rolled over on her back. Her green eyes flickered toward her Master's face when the expected punishment did not immediately begin in what was supposed to be a brief glance, but then lingered at the strange expression upon the asari Master's face.

"I suppose that it is too much to expect that you would simply believe me," her Master said softly, while staring down at her, the intricate purple markings above the asari’s eyes coming together in a subtle frown. "With everything that happened yesterday it's easy to forget that you have known me for less than an entire day." 

Disappointment, 29045 realized, her confusion increasing yet again, the strange expression was disappointment? The asari Master raised her hand toward the human female's face, causing 29045 to draw in a tense anticipatory breath. Her Master did not strike her however, only slowly placed her blue complexioned hand upon the side of the human's face. 29045 did lift her gaze to meet the asari Master's brown eyes then, confused as to what her Master was doing and what if anything the Master expected of her.

"So much fear and confusion in your eyes," the Master's thumb moved, stroking along the 29045's cheekbone, "you would probably know better how to react to me if I would act more like a batarian and find an excuse to punish you for every real or imagined instance of disobedience." The asari's somber tone lightened, "Thankfully, I am not a batarian however, for I would not like that at all. In time, you will learn that I mean what I say, and understand that your situation has rather drastically improved from your previous life as a slave of the Batarians." The Master's fingers stroked gently along the side of the human's face as the asari slowly withdrew her hand. "In the meantime, I'd imagine that you need to visit the restroom," she pointed to the human's left, "go and take care of your needs, when you are done find the kitchen and wait there for me."

29045's gaze followed her Master's pointing finger, and saw an open doorway leading to a small room in which she could see a sink, toilet and shower. Before she could order her thoughts enough to respond to her Master's command, the asari had already rolled smoothly away from the female human, risen from the bed and was headed toward the open door on the other side of the room which lead to a large, open area. Belatedly, 29045 barked an affirmative response to her Master's back as the asari left the room.

The human female remained motionless upon the bed for several seconds, staring after her new Master and left with the unmistakable impression that, even though she had intended to show her Master today that she was a good, obedient slave, she had already failed and been disobedient and that was the reason for her Master’s disappointment. Even though there was not another slave nearby to hear her, 29045 let out a sad, uncertain sound, indicating her current unhappiness with the situation. Finally, left with the last order's given her; the human female rose from the bed and headed toward the indicated restroom. 29045 hurried about her business there, completing her given task as swiftly as possible and pausing only long enough to quickly wash her hands as she had been taught by the Batarian Masters before exiting the room and then heading toward the doorway though which her asari Master had disappeared.


	10. Asari are not Batarians Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: Alternate Universe in which the Protheans won a Phyrric victory over the Reapers, destroying both their Empire and nearly destroying the Mass Relay system. Mass Effect Universe with no Reapers, no Citadel, and no Citadel Council or Citadel race alliance. Many thanks to PMC65 for letting me use the Asari culture and characters from her “Thessian Whisper” and “The Shepardess and the Questing Beast” in this story. The timeline is in both Earth time in Anno Domini (AD) years and in Asari Republics Republic Era (RE) years which is marked from the beginning of the League of Republics upon Thessia, the first unified Thessian government. The story begins in 4714 RE/2190 AD.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 12/02/2014

29045 halted once she stepped into the large room just outside of the bedroom where she had slept and looked around; despite her despondent mood the fair-skinned human female was curious about her new surroundings. Like the bedroom this room also showed neither bare dark grey brick walls nor even hanging covered bare dark grey brick walls; instead pale wood with the upper edge cut into swooping arches, which almost looked like waves, covered the bottom half of the wall while the upper half of the wall was covered with a dark blue fabric similar in appearance to the fabric covering the bedroom walls. Her new Master’s home was very nice, thought the human as she began looking around for the location of the kitchen where her Master had instructed her to wait for the asari. Perhaps these were not Asari military houses but regular Asari houses…and maybe her new Master had more than one home, realized 29045. The human female had heard of high caste Batarian Masters who owned several homes, and her new asari Master was obviously a high caste Asari from the way the other asari soldiers treated her, so maybe she also owned more than one home. 

From where she was standing, 29045 could see a short hallway, another room, and a single door on the same wall as the bedroom she had just exited. The hallway was short and ended at a painted dark blue door which looked familiar to 29045; she thought she remembered her Master carrying her through that doorway from the outside. The other entrance opened immediately onto a room with cream colored tiled floor, wooden cabinets and dark counters, and a wooden oval table. The female human hadn't been inside many Master's homes, but that room certainly appeared to be the kitchen. 29045 stepped farther into the large, central room and looked toward the last remaining doorway. At this angle she could just see the corner of a bed covered with the same dark blue colored comforter as the bed where she had slept – that room was definitely not the kitchen. In the quiet of the home, the human female heard water running from further within the other bedroom and guessed that was where her Master had gone to take care of her own needs. 29045 frowned slightly as her head tilted in curiosity, her Master’s home had two bedrooms but her Master had chosen to sleep with her. In the next moment, the human female’s frown deepened as she berated herself for thinking even for a second that it was the place of a slave, an animal, to question their Master’s choices, it was not.

Resolutely 29045 turned her attention away from the second bedroom and to the entrance leading to the tiled room with counters and a table; she was certain that was where her Master meant for her to wait. The human female crossed from one side to the other of the central room with swift strides; pausing only briefly to look at the comfortable looking light blue couch and chairs, and glance over at the desk with a terminal upon it along one wall. Once inside the kitchen, 29045 took a second to look around the room before choosing a spot by one wall to kneel which she hoped would be out of her Masters way. The last thing 29045 wanted was to annoy her new Master any further, the human thought as she lowered herself to her hands and knees and then bowed until her forehead pressed against the floor, ignoring the protesting discomfort of the injuries between her legs and inside. It was the most subservient position she knew, and was used as a punishment or offered by a slave when they wanted to show the Masters that they understood their place. 29045 hoped that after her earlier disobedience this would lessen her asari Master's displeasure with her.

She was in place just in time, less than a minute later her new Master entered the room. The blue-hued alien female's steps were precise, graceful and entirely silent. If 29045 had not knelt in such a way that she could just see the doorway out of the corner of her left eye, the human would not have known her Master had entered the room the asari was so quiet. The human remained motionless as her Master smoothly shifted direction and came over to stand in front of her. The asari said nothing, simply stood over 29045, adding to the human female's rapidly rising anxiety and fear. This was what her Master had wanted her to do, wasn't it?

In the next moment, 29045 felt the asari's fingers brush over her shaved head, feeling slightly cool against her bare skin. It startled her even though her Master's brief touch was gentle. "I am not angry with you," she heard her Master say, "lift your head and don't stress your wounds. I want them to heal as quickly as possible after all," the asari added, "which means I don't want you to do anything that would re-injure them."

Relieved that she had only been slight wrong in carrying out the asari Master's command, the human female lifted her forehead from the floor and settled back upon her knees, easing the pain and discomfort she had been feeling. She kept her head bowed and tilted toward the left in a show of subservience however, and her gaze upon the floor as she awaited her Master's next order.

The asari straightened to her full height, towering over the kneeling human female, "The doctors gave me a list of what foods should be safe for you to consume, thankfully I like most of them as well. I'll fix breakfast for us and then we will discuss how I expect you to act around me and around other asari." Her Master paused for a second and then asked, "Do you know how to set a table?"

Her Master was going to make food for her, a slave? The idea of a Master cooking food for her as well as themselves astonished her so much that it took a second for 29045 to reply to her Master's question with a hesitant affirmative noise. She had worked in the slave's feeding halls and twice had served the Masters while they were eating, but she had never set the table for the Masters dinners so she was not entirely certain she knew how to properly set a table though she had seen one set.

"A plate, utensils, a glass - I can't imagine that what you need would be very different from what I need to eat a meal," her Master commented seemingly reading 29045’s mind as she turned and stepped away from the human. "Look at me," she commanded and then continued when 29045 looked up, "utensils are in that drawer, the glasses in that cabinet and the plates in that one." The asari pointed to a drawer and two cabinets in quick succession. "Set out the same for both of us while I prepare breakfast." The Master crossed over to what appeared to be a refrigerator and then paused, half-turning toward 29045 as she clarified, "Set out the same for both of us on the table. I need to observe you while you eat and I don’t feel like leaning over so that I can watch you while you kneel upon the floor."

29045's shocked sounding affirmative bark a second later clearly betrayed her reaction to her Master's orders. Eat at the table with her Master? Slaves were only animals, they ate only with other slaves or if there were Masters around they ate while kneeling on the floor or ground.

Unexpectedly, her Master laughed softly at her response, "Today was supposed to be a day of fewer surprises for you, but I guess that isn't going to be the case if the idea of eating at the same table with me shocks you." The asari turned away from her, opened the refrigerator, stared at the many, varied, and largely unfamiliar to 29045 contents within it for several seconds before taking out some of the items and setting them on the counter. 

The human female stood and then paused uncertainly to see if her Master would change her mind, but the asari only pulled out a cutting board and began cutting what looked like some type of pale colored slab of meat into thick slices. Seeing that there would be no reprieve, 29045 walked over to the drawer her Master had indicated and pulled it open. The eating utensils inside were similar in appearance to those with which she was familiar if less utilitarian in appearance. These had simply carved handles of a different color and material than the metallic utensil portion. Gathering two of each type, 29045 turned back to the table, which was large enough to seat eight asari, and then paused in dismay as she realized that she had no idea where to place them in relation to each other around the table in order to show her Master's proper status.

The human female stared at the table for a few seconds in confusion and dismay before glancing toward her Master in hope that the asari might give her more specific orders. The taller, blue-hued female was now cutting up what looked like a few different unfamiliar types of either fruits or vegetables, 29045 wasn't certain which, and did not seem to notice her questioning stare. Finally, after a few seconds, unwilling to appear disobedient, the human female decided to place the utensils at one end of the oval table and then on one side of it farthest away from where she thought her Master would be sitting. The two times she had served while the Masters ate, the highest caste Master had always sat at one end of the table while the second highest caste Master sat opposite him at the other end. After deciding where to place the utensils it took 29045 only a minute longer to go to the two cabinets her Master had indicated and return with glasses and plates. Finished with her given task, the human returned to where she had been kneeling before and knelt there once again with her head bowed and her gaze on the floor as she waited for her Master's next command.

Despite herself 29045’s gaze did flicker briefly toward her Master when she noticed out of her peripheral vision the asari turn away from her cooking and look towards the table. "That placement would be suitable if I were a batarian," her Master commented, "however I am not a batarian. The highest ranked asari within a household, usually a Matriarch, is always seated at the middle of the table so that she may share her knowledge and wisdom with everyone equally and provide guidance to those who seek it." After finishing speaking, the asari turned back to the stove and returned her attention to her cooking as if what she had just said was of no particular importance.

It was of importance, however, to 29045. Wrong. She had set the table wrong, but what did her Master want her to do about it? 29045 jerked her head anxiously back and forth between her Master and the wrongly set table as she hoped the asari would order her to fix it. No command immediately came however, and the longer 29045 waited for one the more agitated and afraid she grew as she looked between the table and her Master. Should...her breathing grew erratic as she considered whether she should rise and correct her mistake without her Master ordering her to do it. A batarian Master would either punish her for setting the table incorrectly or for acting without an order. Either action or both would lead to punishment since she would be disobedient twice even if the second disobedient act was to correct her own mistake. Her new Master...29045 did not know what her asari Master would do to her.

Her Master said something softly in her own fluid language, interrupting 29045's increasingly frenetic thoughts, then spoke next in Batarian. "Rise and move the setting at the end of the table to the middle opposite of where you placed your plate 29045."

The human female let out a soft exhale of pure relief at the clear order as she rose from the floor. She eagerly strode over to the end of the table where she had placed the utensils, plate and glass for her Master and began moving them to where her Master had ordered them placed. When she finished moving them she paused for a moment to glance at her own utensils, plate and glass which were just one seat to the right from being directly across from where her Master was now going to sit. The asari had said nothing about moving them however, so she left them alone even thought the thought of eating at the table at the same time as her Master and so close to her Master made her feel extremely nervous. Leaving the table, 29045 returned to where she had been kneeling upon the floor and knelt there once again.

Moments after the human female settled into place the asari spoke, "I suspected that you would place the dishes where you placed them," causing 29045 to lift her green eyed gaze from the floor to glance up at her Master's back in dismayed surprise. The asari was facing away from the human female, her attention focused on the stove as she added some of the fruits or vegetables she had cut up earlier to the meat she was cooking and fortunately could not see 29045's rebellious expression to punish her for it. The asari continued, "I waited until you were done to tell you where a senior Asari would be seated in the hope that that you would choose to move the setting on your own," the asari commented to 29045's now growing bewilderment, "that you would trust that I had meant what I said earlier and wouldn't punish you for it because you were not being disobedient. In fact, you would have been showing willing obedience to my wishes and given me a reason to praise you." The human saw her Master shake her crested head, "but the Batarian's methods of breaking slaves from showing any sign of acting or even thinking independently are very brutal...and very effective. I should know, I've observed how they treat their slaves enough times on intelligence gathering missions...."the asari paused and then continued in a quieter voice, "and they treat your race very harshly, even by Batarian standards of harshness toward slaves." 

To say that 29045's thoughts were a confused turmoil inside her head was an understatement. She had thought for a brief moment that her new Master had intended to give her the opportunity to be disobedient so that the asari could discipline her for her rebelliousness once she rose and moved the dishes without being ordered to do so, but instead her Master had let her be disobedient so that she might correct her error on her own and earn her Master’s praise. Before this moment and her new Master's statement, 29045 had never even considered that correcting herself might be an act of willing obedience to a Master. As for what else her Master had said concerning trust and praise: Masters had told her to trust them before, trust that they would punish her and that she would deeply regret being disobedient or rebellious against them, and the only time she had been praised by a Master was for knowing her proper place as a slave. Never had any Master before this one said that she should trust them not to punish her for acting on her own, much less praised her for it.

"You were considering moving the dishes, I could tell, but you became so fearful," her Master's voice broke into 29045's thoughts as the asari turned around to look at the human and brown eyes met green for a moment before 29045 dropped her gaze, "that I decided order you to do it. Perhaps I should have waited longer, given you more of a chance to act and see that you would be rewarded instead of punished, but you were in such distress that it just seemed cruel."

29045's eyes were wide as she gazed at the floor. Her Master's expression was recognizable to her, but only upon the face of another slave and not a Master. Pity. Her asari Master had pitied her upon seeing her fear and been merciful instead of becoming angry or cruel. A batarian Master would not have been merciful knew 29045, for no batarian Master had ever been merciful to her when she was afraid. Instead her fear had made some of the Masters angrier and they had beaten her even more harshly. Those Masters her fear had not made angrier were even more frightening to the slave, for they had liked her fear and it had made them crueler to her like the Overseer Master her new Master had killed yesterday.

"Asari are not Batarians 29045," surprised by the seriousness of her Master’s tone, the human female glanced up from the floor. Brown eyes framed by angular, purple markings focused upon the human’s green ones, "I meant what I said earlier, I will only punish you for intentionally going against an order I have given you - for clearly meant disobedience. Getting up and moving where you placed my dishes once I let you know that I wanted them elsewhere would have been an example of you wanting to willingly please me, not of being disobedient." The asari paused for a brief moment, staring with sober intentness at 29045 before asking, "Do you think you understand me now?"

The human female stared up at her Master in uncertainty and dismay, her green eyes wide at the question. Did she understand? Yes, she understood what the asari had told her, strange as she found it. Deep inside the slave however, trusting in it was another matter. Hesitantly, 29045 barked an affirmative sound in response and then cringed in dismay at the weakness of it.

Such a response to a direct question would have angered any batarian Master; her new Master however merely looked thoughtful. "About as good as I can expect at this time I guess," the asari commented, not quite sounding as if she was talking to 29045 even though she was still gazing at the human female. A moment later she continued, "I will give you other opportunities to show your willingness to serve me and trust that I will not punish you for taking them. I want to be able to praise and reward you, to start building a trust between us that will serve as a basis for our future relationship. I cannot do that alone however; you must make an effort as well to trust that I am being honest with you."

As her Master turned back toward the stove, 29045 bowed her head and stared at the tiled floor, confusion writ across her face. The human female's mind was a tumultuous morass of fear, uncertainty and confusion, but through the swirling chaos of emotions the slender thread of hope that she had woken with this morning was growing stronger. Hope that her new Master would continue to be kind if she were a good, obedient slave and hope that she could trust what her new Master was telling her and promising her just as her Master had told her the truth about removing the chip in her head which caused pain. 

Her Master turned suddenly away from the stove to stare at 29045, causing the human female to flinch in fear despite her thoughts of only a few seconds ago. Masters suddenly looking at you usually meant nothing good in 29045’s experience. Instead of punishing her however, her Master only exhaled a resigned sounding sigh at her behavior. “Relax 29045, I’m not about to hurt you,” the asari said with a touch of impatience. “Only to tell you that I do not want you to start wildly acting on your own in an effort to please me. Let me guide you along the path I want you to follow. I will give you clear indications that I want you to take an initiative in pleasing me as I did this morning," her Master paused and then laughed softly, "Or at least I will try to give you a clear indication, obviously I need to be clearer...at least until you grow accustomed to me and understand me better."

The asari gazed at 29045 for a moment longer before turning back to the stove. As soon as her Master was no longer looking at her the human female’s shoulders slumped and she frowned anxiously as she bowed her head to stare unseeingly at the floor. No matter her good intentions or how hard she was trying to be an obedient slave this morning she kept failing. She was being disobedient, and though her new Master had not punished her for it, 29045 could tell that the asari was becoming upset with her. The human female was almost certain she knew how she was failing. Twice now her Master had become annoyed when she acted fearfully, earlier in the bed, and just now when the asari had turned to give additional instructions to her. Batarian Masters liked knowing their slaves feared them, her new Master had said that to her earlier and 29045 knew it to be true. Her new Master had also told her that, unlike Batarian Masters, Asari Masters did not want their slaves to fear them. That sounded very odd to the human, but every time she showed that she was afraid of her new Master the asari grew displeased with her. 

She needed to stop being so fearful of her new asari Master to show that she was an obedient slave knew 29045 - except that she was afraid of her asari Master. She was afraid of the Batarian Masters and the Asari were the Masters of the Batarian Masters. Despair filled 29045 for her new Master did frighten her, and the human female didn't know how to stop being afraid of the asari who was a Master of Masters, who towered over her, was stronger in body than she, and who had the blue biotics that had been used with such brutal effectiveness against her and her fellow slave soldiers yesterday. She could not so easily forget the gory red splattering of blood upon dark metal walls and the strewn body pieces of her fellow slave soldiers upon the grated floor from the bluish white globe that had first pulled them into it as they screamed in pain and then exploded. 

29045’s mind searched frantically for an answer, any answer – except she could not figure out how to not be afraid of her new Master. The human’s despair deepened, she just needed to stop showing with her body that she was afraid of her Master 29045 thought, and then focused on that thought. Was that the answer? Her asari Master did not seem to be displeased that she was fearful…or at least was not openly displeased. Her Master only showed her displeasure when 29045 displayed her fear by flinching or cringing away from the asari. Yes, maybe that was the answer, realized 29045. Even if she was fearful, she only needed to stop acting fearful...to just figure out a way to not show her fear...she just needed to concentrate on remaining still around her Master to stop angering the asari, 29045's expression brightened as the realization came to her. She could do that, she could stop her fearful responses and show her asari Master that she was a good, obedient slave that did not need to be punished, did not need another tracking collar put around her neck, or another pain device put into her head.

Movement drew the human female's attention away from her thoughts and back to the subject of them as her asari Master stepped away from the stove, opened up one of the upper cabinets, and then took out a stack of bowls which the blue complexioned alien placed upon the counter. Lifting just her eyes from the floor, 29045 watched curiously as her Master filled one of the bowls with the meat mixture she had just finished preparing and then filled the others with the various fruits that she had cut up earlier. As soon as the asari had finished filling the bowls she took them over to the table. Returning to the cabinets she opened the same one 29045 had gotten the glasses from and took down the large glass pitcher sitting on the shelf above them. “I did not tell you to get this earlier, so don’t worry about it,” the asari said as she took the pitcher over to the sink, moved the temperature control on all the way over on the cold side, and began filling it, “but in the future place a pitcher of cold water on the table for us when you set it."

Attempting to make up for her earlier delays in responding to her Master, 29045 barked out a hurried affirmative noise in response.

"Good," her Master responded as she left the table and came over to stand in front of 29045. "One of those opportunities I spoke of earlier to show your willingness and earn my praise is about to occur," the asari said to the kneeling human. "I know the idea makes you uncomfortable, but I want you to sit at the table and eat as willingly as if you were sitting on the floor." 29045 glanced briefly over at the table before returning her attention to her Master. The asari continued, "One of my duties as your Mistress is to make sure you eat properly and the doctors have given me a very specific diet that they want you to follow. They also want to get an idea of what types of our foods you find palatable. The easiest way to accomplish both is for me to watch you eat as I haven't persuaded you to talk yet and thus you can't simply tell me which foods you like and which you do not." The asari paused for a noticeable moment before speaking again, "29045, will you sit at the table as willingly as you would sit on the floor for me so that I can observe your reactions to what you are eating?"

29045 was still reeling from the fact that the asari had spoken yet again of teaching her to speak when the blue-hued alien asked her question. The human female focused upon her Master...no Mistress 29045 mentally corrected herself for the asari had just spoken of herself as a Mistress and not a Master. Before responding 29045 reminded herself that she was a good slave, an obedient slave that would do whatever her Mistress commanded, then replied to the asari with a firm affirmative sound.

Her Mistress smiled, showing white teeth between dark blue lips, "Was that a determined affirmative?"

Suddenly uncertain, 29045 dropped her gaze to the floor before glancing back up once again. She was the focus of her Mistress’s attention, but the expression on the asari’s face was not one of anger, or at least 29045 thought it was not. Drawing upon her determination to show that she was an obedient slave, 29045 repeated her affirmative noise with as much surety as she was able to put into it.

"Good, that pleases me," her Mistress's smile widened as her tone warmed, and then a thoughtful expression crossed her face. "I shall have to start thinking of a proper name for you," her Mistress said to 29045's astonishment, “Batarian’s may like numbers, but Asari Mistresses prefer to call their servants by an actual name."

A name? 29045’s was dumbfounded, a name instead of a number? Her mind fastened upon the other thing her Mistress had said…had called her. Twice in fact, as the asari had called her one earlier as well 29045 recalled. A servant and not a slave…what did that mean to her asari Mistress? In the Hegemony servants were below Masters and Mistresses, but they were above slaves. They were not animals. 29045 barely breathed as she allowed herself to wonder. Did that mean that her Mistress thought…her mind grappled with an idea the human had never considered before, trying to make it make sense to her…perhaps…perhaps her Mistress thought that if she continued to be willingly obedient without needing a collar or pain device that she could be more than an animal?


	11. Asari are not Batarians Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe is the property of Bioware/Electronic Arts. No infringement of these copyrights is intended as this is a not for profit fan fiction work.
> 
> Warning: None
> 
> Authors Note: Alternate Universe in which the Protheans won a Phyrric victory over the Reapers, destroying both their Empire and nearly destroying the Mass Relay system. Mass Effect Universe with no Reapers, no Citadel, and no Citadel Council or Citadel race alliance. Many thanks to PMC65 for letting me use the Asari culture and characters from her “Thessian Whisper” and “The Shepardess and the Questing Beast” in this story. The timeline is in both Earth time in Anno Domini (AD) years and in Asari Republics Republic Era (RE) years which is marked from the beginning of the League of Republics upon Thessia, the first unified Thessian government. The story begins in 4714 RE/2190 AD.
> 
> Rating: Mature
> 
> Feedback: Always welcome, feedback is what encourages me to keep writing. Please let me know what you like and what you dislike about the story.
> 
> Revision History: 02/02/2016

29045 focused her gaze upon the wide ribbon of warm water pouring out from wide spout-like opening near the shower ceiling, following its shimmering flow to where it splashed upon small, curved, cream and blue colored tiles set in an intricate swirling pattern upon the floor. Eating at the same table as her new Mistress so that the asari could see which foods she liked and which she disliked had been a very strange and confusing experience for 29045, but this was even stranger and more confusing. When her Mistress had ordered her to disrobe and follow her into the shower, 29045 thought her Mistress wanted her to assist with her bathing and had followed the order eagerly, for it was a servant’s task, not a slave’s task, and yet another sign that her Mistress thought she might be more than just an animal. 

However, that was not what her Mistress had desired from her. Instead of her bathing her Mistress, her Mistress wished to bathe her. Thus she came to be here, standing motionless while her Mistress stood behind her, the asari’s soap slicked hands running slowly over the human female’s arms and shoulders, her fingers working the cleansing solution into a thick white coating upon the slave’s much paler skin. 29045 thought back to the brief glimpse of her Mistress’s soft, pleased expression when she had immediately obeyed the asari’s command to turn around and present her back to her Mistress. This was certainly a new experience for 29045. Yet the human female didn’t doubt that she was giving pleasure to her Mistress simply by being compliant with the asari’s wishes, and that was for her to accept that her Mistress wished to touch and bathe her. It certainly wasn’t painful, 29045 mused as she unconsciously relaxed underneath the soothing, stroking hands now rubbing up and down her back. Indeed, the shorter female let forth a slight sound of pleasure as her Mistress’s fingers dug into a tense set of muscles in a way that felt anything but unpleasant or painful…her Mistress’s hands felt good upon her body.

“Your skin is so soft and tender,” her Mistress’s voice was soft and low as she spoke, surprising the slave for the asari had been silent ever since she had ordered the human female to shed her clothing and join her in the shower. “As tender as a newborn’s skin,” the asari continued sounding thoughtful above the sound of the water as she slowly stroked her fingertips down the human’s back. 29045 didn’t know how tender was a newborn asari’s skin, but she knew that her skin was thinner and weaker than a batarian’s skin. Just one sign of how humans were lesser than Batarians…and apparently lesser than even the youngest Asari given what her new Mistress had just said to her. “It….” there was a brief but noticeable pause before the asari continued, “You are pleasing my touch.” 29045’s eyes widened in astonishment as her Mistress gave her praise instead of ridicule. 

Her Mistress’s hands, which had stilled at the human’s waist as the asari spoke, began their circular once again, pressing motion back up along either side of 29045’s spine. They pressed with greater firmness as they worked their way back up along 20945’s back, the soap acting as a lubricant, allowing the asari’s fingers to slide freely across the human’s skin as blue fingers kneaded into the muscles underneath. Unbidden, another slight sound of pleasure escaped 29045’s lips at the pleasant sensation and her head lolled submissively forward. 29045 thought for a brief moment that her Mistress’s hands slowed at the sound and tensed in concern. She waited anxiously for a sharp, physical correction and harsh words, but her Mistress said nothing and the asari’s hands simply continued in their circular motions up her back at the same pace as before. Mindful of her earlier decision to not act fearfully and thus displease her Mistress, the slave forced her body to relax once again and as the silent seconds passed, 29045’s forced relaxation eased into a more natural one. 

Her Mistress lifted her hands from the human female’s back, but only to dispense more soap onto her dark blue hands and rub it into a thick lather before beginning upon the slave’s shoulders and neck. The asari spent several seconds rubbing over the tense muscles there before moving up the human’s neck to gently glide her hands over the female slave’s shaved head. “Your hair is already growing here,” her Mistress said her voice betraying her surprise as she moved closer, her fingers stilled upon the human female’s head. “Do not cut or shave it,” the asari ordered after a moment as her hands began moving once again. “I want to see what it looks like when it’s longer. As pale as it is now,” her Mistress commented as her fingers upon the slave’s scalp continued to work the soap into a thick, white cleansing lather, “it will be as pale as the hairs on your arms perhaps and certainly paler than the hairs above your eyes or at your groin.”

Even though she was surprised at the command, 29045 quickly made an affirmative noise, acknowledging it. The Batarian masters had always kept the human slave’s heads shaven; she did not even know what color the hair upon her head was for she could not remember ever having hair upon her head.

“Tilt your head back and close your eyes,” her Mistress eventually commanded and the human female obediently lifted her chin as she closed her eyes. She was uncertain what the asari intended, but then her Mistress only continued rubbing the soap into her scalp. The asari’s fingers worked their way across her head until 29045 was as certain as she could be with her eyes closed that her entire head was now covered with soapy white foam. “Keep your head tilted back and your eyes closed,” her Mistress repeated her earlier command, causing the slave to frown a little in concern and squeeze her eyes even tighter together, “and turn around.”

Ah, 29045’s expression smoothed at the addition, and she did her best to turn around exactly in place though with her eyes closed and head tilted back she felt a bit disoriented. She wavered for a brief moment and immediately felt her Mistress’s hands upon her shoulders, steadying and guiding her around. “Good,” the asari praised her, “now step back into the water. I want to rinse your head.”

The slave made a brief noise of acknowledgement and then immediately stepped backward into the warm spray of water behind her, stopping when she felt it upon her scalp. A brief moment later she felt her Mistress’s cool hands upon her head rubbing along her skin. Making sure that the soap was all rinsed away, 29045 guessed from the asari’s actions.

Her Mistress’s hands lifted from the human female’s head and then pressed against her shoulders, “Step forward,” the asari commanded. 29045 obeyed letting her Mistress’s hands upon her shoulders guide her while keeping her eyes closed and her head tilted back as she has not been ordered otherwise. One step, then two, and then after the third she had to stop because she literally ran into her Mistress. The slave was horrified at what she had done and immediately tried to step back only to have the asari’s hands upon her shoulders firmly stop her. “I thought you would feel good pressed up against me,” with her eyes closed 29045 could not see her Mistresses expression but something in her voice, in the asari’s lowered tone, immediately dampened her fear and caused her breath to catch. “Your skin so pale against mine, so delicate and soft…and so warm.” To the slave’s astonishment the next thing she heard from her Mistress was soft laughter, “You are being wonderfully obedient right now my little human, go ahead and open your eyes.”

29045 opened her eyes, and as she had her head tilted backward looked up directly into the intent brown ones of her Mistress. “I’ve liked your eyes from the first time that you looked up at me,” the asari said, “our eyes are almost always shades of one color, brown or blue being the most common. Your eyes however are both brown and green. Their unusual, and beautiful.” Astonished, the human female was still staring upward at the asari and it was only after her new Mistress stopped speaking that she submissively dropped her gaze. She did not lower her head however, for the asari had not told her to do that and was very aware that her Mistress was still staring down at her.

Warm…beautiful, she flicked her gaze upward, this close she could see the almost scaled texture of the asari’s blue skin, which as her Mistress had implied seemed much thicker than her own pale skin. Her Mistress was still staring down at her, brown eyes intent upon the human. Normally this would be more than enough to fill the slave with fear, but this was her new Mistress not one of the Batarian Masters, and the slave did not think that the asari was thinking about hurting her at the moment. 29045 felt a strange fluttering in her stomach, and felt unaccountably hot for a moment - did her new Mistress wish to take pleasure from her body - to do more than just enjoying the warmth of her body and the softness of her skin? Strangely, the idea did not fill her with the same feelings as when the Batarian Masters wanted to please themselves with her body. She did not feel any need to chant to herself that her body was for her Masters to do with as they pleased to remain still and obedient, her body seemed to want to do that all on its own.

The asari lowered her head, her nostrils flaring as she drew in a deep breath. 29045’s eyes flickered up, startled at her Mistress’s behavior. “Last night before they sedated you couldn’t smell much off you besides your fear, now though,” the asari’s hands slid downward from her shoulders to her back and pulled her even tighter against the alien female’s body, “you smell very pleasant indeed and as if you like my touch upon your body.”

29045 instantly thought about how her Mistress’s hands had felt rubbing up her back and on her head, and now, and made an affirmative sound which sounded softer and more uncertain, or at least more wavering, than she had intended.

Instead of being angered by it, the asari once again laughed softly at her response. “Good because that was what I wanted,” she replied before releasing her. “Turn around my human maiden,” she ordered. Obediently 29045 turned around, she was bewildered though, both because she wasn’t quite certain what her Mistress meant by calling her a maiden or by saying that was what she wanted and by the clear amusement in the asari’s tone and expression. 

As soon the slave finished turning, her Mistress pulled her backward until the human’s back was pressed against the asari’s chest again. “You are confused at me calling you a maiden?” her Mistress said as she reached around 29045, her blue arms encircling the smaller female, and dispensed a large amount of soap into her hands which she immediately began working it into a thick lather.

29045 made a soft affirmative sound as she stood very still, acutely aware of her Mistress’s body pressed against her back while her gaze focused on how the muscles in the asari’s forearms bunched and tensed underneath thickly textured blue skin as her Mistress continued to work the soap into a thick later. Her new Mistress was strong and tall and right now the slave was very literally surrounded by her body, it made 29045 very aware of how much weaker she was than the asari. The same thought had filled her with acute fear before, but somehow in this space, with how her Mistress was being with her, the slave wasn’t nearly as afraid as she had been earlier in the morning.

“Even with what happened to you yesterday and wounded as you are,” her Mistress began explaining, “still your body responds to me just as an asari maiden’s would respond. Not many experiences would long dampen their needs either.” The asari paused for a moment before continuing, “It probably means that your species, like mine, has a high sex drive that is especially high in young adulthood – and you are a young adult of your species.”

The human female frowned slightly, the Masters had the right to use her body for pleasure. Sometimes…with a few of them she had not found the experience painful, but needing her Masters to use her body for pleasure? Slaves did not disagree with one’s Master or Mistress though so her new Mistress must be right... The human’s thoughts froze as the asari finished lathering the soap and then began working it into the skin of her stomach. “You have nice muscle definition,” the asari murmured, as her hands stroked along the slave’s abdomen, “it is very pleasant to feel under your soft skin.” Blue hands glided upward, slowing as they reached the human’s breasts then stroked around them once before the asari cupped them in her hands. “Not very big, but nicely formed,” her Mistress complemented as her fingers stroked toward the crest of each breast, “and I like the coloring of your nipples. They are a very pretty hue of red and contrast nicely with the paleness of your skin…and against my own.”

29045 made a breathy sound of acknowledgement of the compliment as her nipples hardened and became more prominent under the touch of her Mistress; making it clear to the human that the asari had been correct all along, her body did want her Mistress to use it for the asari’s pleasure.

“This is what I wanted,” her Mistress breathed in her ear just before her fingers flicked the stiffened tips of her breasts lightly, drawing a startled breath from the slave at the feelings that radiated from them. “You like how this feels don’t you?” her Mistress did not even pause for the slave’s agreement, “I want you to focus all your thoughts on how good this feels, can you do that for me my human maiden?”

29045 was bewildered by the command, but nevertheless made an affirmative noise and tried to do as her Mistress asked. It was not difficult as the asari’s blue fingers, circled, lightly squeezed and even pulled at the deeper red tips of her breasts creating different, but all pleasant sensations. Never once did her Mistress squeeze too tightly or tug long enough to cause any pain.

After several seconds 29045 became aware of a strange pressing sensation against her head which reminded her in a way of a bay pressurizing. She felt it against her skin, and in her ears, making her want to swallow. As the sensation increased she began to feel somewhat felt disoriented, and removed from what was occurring, but at the same time she was very aware of her Mistress’s fingers upon her breasts. Distantly she realized that at some point she had reached up and gripped her Mistresses muscular forearms, not to push the asari’s hands away, but simply to hold onto something. Oddly, her mind focused on how small looking her hands were compared to the asari’s blue ones. It emphasized in her mind her earlier thoughts of how much stronger and powerful than her race were the Asari - was the taller asari standing behind her. Unlike earlier however the thought did not feel her with even a slight amount of fear, but the growing belief that if she submitted to the Asari she would never be hurt again instead she would be cared for and protected by them...by her Mistress. 

Surrendering, yielding was easy; after all, it was what she had done her entire life without any promise of care or protection in return. The sense of her Mistress - strong, dominating…caring and protective - grew in 29045’s mind as she surrendered everything to the asari. A warm feeling grew in her chest and then elsewhere as need rose within, overtaking and overwhelming her senses. The human slave heard a low groan and then realized with surprise that it had come from her about the same time as she realized her back was arched, thrusting her chest forward against the asari’s stroking hands while her hips were rubbing in a needy motion against the asari’s legs. 29045 wasn’t quite certain what had just happened to her. She was panting, her blood was pounding through her head, and as she straightened she felt the slickness of arousal upon her inner legs.

Her asari Mistress did not let her get very far, strong blue arms tightening around her body and pulling her back against the taller female. “Again you have surprised me my human,” the asari said, her breath whispering across the human’s ear and causing her to shiver in reaction. “Upending my expectations about your species and proving that humans are very different from the other races. You are more similar to my own, not only in your appearance, but in how you react to the meld. Usually other species do not experience the meld as pleasurable unless the asari initiating it takes extreme care with them, or the two have several meld experiences and know what they are doing with one another. You however…your mind just yielded so sweetly to me that it was a simple matter for me to make sure you didn’t experience any pain from it. Not only that but being in your mind, feeling you surrender to me, your beginning trust of me not to hurt you…” Her Mistress’s voice dropped to a husky whisper that sent another shiver through the slave, “made the meld very pleasurable for me as well my sweet human maiden.” The asari paused for a moment and then continued in a soft, deep purring tone, “And then of course there was the savoring of your own pleasure.”

Her Mistresses tone made the slave’s knees feel weak and it took her a moment to realize what the asari had just said, a meld? It took a moment for the human’s mind to seize on the word, she knew it, but the Batarian Masters had described it as terrible experience, one as painful as having the pain device in her head activated for punishment. What she had just experienced had certainly not felt anything like the pain device, the slave thought as she remembered the feelings which had overwhelmed her. 

“Did the Batarians ever tell you about our ability to meld with other species?" her Mistress inquired, her mouth very near the human female's ear and the slave quickly made and affirmative noise in response. "I suspect that they made it sound like a very frightening and painful experience?" Again 29045 made an affirmative sound. This time her Mistress did not immediately say anything else, remaining silent for several long moments. Finally, the asari spoke, "The meld can be painful when one fights against it. When you accept it however, it is not painful, and as you experienced can be quite pleasurable.”

The human heard the message behind her Mistress’s words, if you were disobedient to the Asari, as the Batarian Masters had been disobedient, you would experience pain. If you were obedient however, you would experience what she had experienced. Reward instead of punishment. Again 29045 made a sound of affirmation.

“Hrmm,” was the sound that her Mistress made in reply before falling silent for several seconds. Eventually the arms around her waist loosened, and the asari raised one hand to stroke lightly from the slave’s shoulder down to her hand. “I almost wish that batarian idiot was alive for me to kill him again for hurting you so badly that we can’t continue this now,” her Mistress said with a sigh and 29045’s eyes widened in disbelief at what the asari had just said to her. “But unfortunately,” the wandering blue hand shifted to stroke along the slave’s stomach again, “my pleasure and my savoring of your pleasure will have to wait until you are healed.” The blue hand wandered still farther upward, cupping the human’s left breast, “Yes definitely,” long fingers gently squeezed one nipple causing the humans back to arch into it, “he deserved a greater punishment than we gave him.” Her Mistress let out a long aggravated sounding sigh, “But I refuse to feel anything from you when I meld with you except what I just felt from you,” her Mistresses voice dropped abruptly into a low growling tone that should have filled 29045 with fear, but instead had her knees feeling as if they would give out, “Overwhelming pleasure which strips every thought from your mind other than how much you want me to touch you, to pleasure you, and how much you want to submit to me.”

29045’s mind was still reeling from her Mistress’s tone and words when a blue haze surrounded her body and she felt the feeling of weightlessness that she had felt before when she had been captured just the day before. Her body lifted in the air and turned so that she was facing her asari Mistress before she was lowered to the ground once again and the biotic effect dissipated. Uncertain and confused the slave lifted her eyes only to be caught by the intensity with which the asari stared down at her. “And to think I was uncertain about the idea of taking responsibility for you, I did not guess how desirable you would prove to be my sweet human.”

29045 could not even think of how to respond to her new Mistress’s words, indeed it was rather difficult for her to think at all with all the contradictory and confusing feelings flowing thorough her body and clamoring for her attention. She could only stare up at the asari as her Mistress raised her hand to stroke gently along the side of her face. “So fair and beautiful, tender and delicate…there is a white flower that blooms upon the hillsides which surround Serrice in the spring. It is small and delicate, but despite that it survives even through the spring snows. Its name is Elosia.” Her Mistress stared down at her silently for a moment before bending and brushing her lips once against the human’s before straightening. “Elosia, that is your new name my sweet human maiden.”

Her lips still tingled from the strange contact, but really 29045 could only concentrate on one thing…she had been given a name by her Mistress…she was more than an animal, she was now Elosia.


End file.
